Tohoku to take Arun LNG

Tohoku to take Arun LNG

TOKYO (Dow Jones): Japan's Tohoku Electric Power Co. said Monday it has agreed with Indonesia's state-owned company Pertamina to lift two liquefied natural gas cargoes from the Indonesia's Arun terminal in September.

"We had talks (with Pertamina) at the end of last week... and we confirmed the offloading schedule," a spokesman for Tohoku Electric said. He said the company will lift one cargo in early September and another in late September.

One cargo typically contains 70,000 to 80,000 metric tons of LNG.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s unit, ExxonMobil Indonesia Inc., which is the sole natural gas operator at Arun, resumed some of its natural gas operations mid-July after a four-month shutdown due to security concerns in Aceh province.

Aug. 18, Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, took the first LNG export from Arun since mid-March.

According to Tohoku Electric, the volume of LNG processed at Arun has so far recovered to around half the normal level. Tohoku Electric, which buys 3 million tons a year of Arun LNG from Pertamina, had secured alternative LNG cargoes from other supply sources to cover its requirements until the end of September.