PERTAMINA - JAKARTA. State-owned energy giant Pertamina has signed a gas sale and purchase agreement with American oil and gas giant ConocoPhillips to secure a gas supply totaling 65 trillion British thermal units (BTU) from the latter’s Corridor Block in South Sumatra within the period from 2018 to 2023.
The gas supply will be used to fuel the operations of Pertamina’s Dumai refinery in Riau Islands, which has a capacity to produce 175,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). Pertamina has planned to upgrade the facility so that it can produce 300,000 BOPD in 2024 with an investment value of around US$5 billion.
“This is a strategic step for us to minimize the fuel costs coming from the operation of our refineries,” Pertamina gas director Yenny Andayani said in a statement on Friday.
Under the agreement, the Corridor Block will first supply 57 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of gas from 2018 to 2020. The figure will later increase to 120 MMSCFD between 2021 and 2023.
The gas will be transmitted through the Duri-Dumai pipeline, which is being jointly developed by Pertamina and state-owned gas firm PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) with a total investment value of $76 million.
The Duri-Dumai pipeline, slated for completion by October 2018, will span 67 kilometers with a capacity to transport 140 MMSCFD of gas.
