Report: Masela assessment by year-end

Masela gas block development plan assessment is reportedly expected to be completed before the end of the year.

As Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s director for upstream oil and gas, Djoko Siswanto told The Jakarta Post on Friday, the assessment project has to be finished before the end of the year in order to avoid delays that could affect the gas supplies in Indonesia.

He said that in case the assessment is not finished during December the realization of budget would be impossible, rendering all previous plans ineffective.

The consulting company, Poten and Partners, that was selected to assess the development plan of the Masela block, will start the job next week, according to Djoko.

Inpex, the operator of the Masela block with a 65 percent ownership and its partner Shell with a 35 percent ownership submitted a revised plan of development of the Abadi LNG project to SKK Migas earlier in September due to an increase in confirmed gas resources.

According to the new plan, the partnership increased the annual production capacity of the proposed floating LNG plant to 7.5 million tons from the initial 2.5 mtpa.

The ministry is pushing on with the assessment of the floating LNG plant option despite the opposition claiming that the land-based LNG facility would be cheaper to develop and would allow for a further capacity increase in the future.

Investment into the development is reportedly ranging from US$14 billion to US$19 billion.

LNG World News Staff; Image: Inpex