PLN may face LNG shortage in 2013

PT PLN is likely to face a shortage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) next year even after the government allocates some of the LNG supply originally earmarked for export to the state electricity firm.

PLN’s oil-based fuels and gas division chief, Suryadi Mardjoeki, said on Monday that the firm had requested four additional LNG cargoes from the Tangguh plant to meet next year’s demand from diverted allocations initially intended for US-based Sempra Energy.

“We have asked the government for four cargoes of LNG, so we have no idea why we only ended up with two cargoes instead,” he told reporters in Jakarta.

An official letter from the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik to the upstream oil and gas regulatory task force, SKSPMigas, stated that the government had instructed for 12 of the 42 LNG cargoes intended for export to Sempra Energy this year to be reallocated for domestic consumers. Of those 12 LNG cargoes, only two would be allocated to PLN, while the rest would be allotted to the fertilizer industry. The remaining 30 cargoes would be exported although it was still unclear who would receive them.

The US firm decided earlier this year not to take up its LNG allocation from Tangguh in favor of cheaper gas back home following the gas supply increase in the US, The Jakarta Post previously reported. According to Suryadi, PLN would need at least 26 LNG cargoes in 2013 to meet the supply of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) off West Java, while the LNG supply from the Bontang LNG plant in East Kalimantan only totaled 22 cargoes.

“With this shortage, we may be forced to import LNG,” he said.

Separately, the gas director for state-owned oil-and-gas company Pertamina, Hari Karyuliarto, said the firm was also awaiting clarity on the LNG supply for its planned gas-receiving terminal in Aceh — previously the firm’s Arun LNG plant.

Hari said that even though Pertamina had selected PT Rekayasa Industri (Rekin) as the contract winner for the facility’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), the firm could not award the project to Rekin before confirmation over the LNG supply for the new FSRU.

“With that, we hope that PLN can sign the head of agreement [HoA] with [British oil and gas giant] BP’s local subsidiary, BP Berau, as the Tangguh plant operator, as well finalizing the deal with us,” he said.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/04/pln-may-face-lng-shortage-2013.html