Tangguh LNG Project
Thomson Reuters
UPDATE 1-BP says to temporarily shut Indonesia LNG plant
08.03.09, 08:38 AM EDT

JAKARTA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Papua will be temporarily shut in August to resolve problems since its start-up earlier this year, an official at BP Indonesia said on Monday.

Tangguh, with a capacity to produce 7.6 million tonnes per year (tpy) via two trains, sent one LNG cargoe to South Korea's POSCO ( PKX - news - people ) and one to China's Fujian terminal last month.

'We are planning to temporarily shut down Tangguh Train 1 to rectify a number of initial problems identified during the start up phase of the plant,' Nico Kanter, BP ( BP - news - people ) Indonesia head of country, told Reuters in an email without giving details.

'It is not unusual for the start up of a plant to show up a number issues such as this. The work is expected to last for a number of weeks,' he said.

Another BP Indonesia official, who declined to be identified, said the planned shut down would have an impact on LNG production but also did not elaborate.

The BP-led project in Indonesia's Papua plans to ship 56 cargoes of LNG this year, an official of energy watchdog, BPMIGAS, said last month.

The cargoes are due to be sent to Fujian, POSCO, South Korea's K-Power, and U.S. firm Sempra Energy ( SRE - news - people ).

Tangguh has several foreign supply contracts, including a 2.6 million tpy contract with China National Offshore Oil Corp, or CNOOC ( CEO - news - people ).

The deal struck with China became a sensitive issue in the run-up to Indonesia's presidential election on July 8, with some politicians saying that the gas price agreed under former president Megawati Sukarnoputri was too low.

There were also some calls ahead of the election for Indonesia to allocate more gas to the domestic market rather than for exports.

U.S. firm Sempra Energy also has a 20-year contract to lift 3.6 million tpy with the right to divert half to customers other than its own terminal in Mexico.

Indonesia, the world's third-biggest LNG exporter, has been counting on Tangguh to help make up for declining production at other projects.

Sakhalin II LNG Project
Gazprom holds first LNG cargo to the U.S. in the winter
Freight News | August 6, 2009
Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom may send its first shipments of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from the Sakhalin-2 project to North America this winter, the company said in an interview.

“We may see the first shipments to North America during the winter period,” said Frederic Barnaud, LNG director at U.K.-based Gazprom Marketing and Trading.

Sakhalin-2, located in Russia’s Far East close to Japan, launched an LNG terminal – Russia’s first – in February this year. Most of the LNG is contracted to Japan and South Korea with the rest sent as spot market transactions to China and India.

Gazprom, the world’s biggest producer of natural gas, is also keen to gain foothold on the U.S. gas market, Barnaud said.

Next year, the project will reach full production capacity of 9.6 million metric tons of LNG, of which the bulk is contracted for delivery into Asia.

Gazprom holds 50% plus one share in the Sakhalin-2 holding company Sakhalin Energy. Royal Dutch Shell has 27.5%, Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (8031.TO) has 12.5% and Mitsubishi Corp. (8058.TO) 10%.