LNG

Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina is preparing to acquire Shell’s stake in the Masela natural gas block that will underpin the Abadi LNG export project in Indonesia and boost future cargo availability in the Pacific Basin, while Shell is also selling all its assets in Pakistan in a pull-out from Asia's more difficult areas to do business.

Taiwan is set to wind down its liquefied natural gas imports from Russia as its supply contract with the Sakhalin II export facility in the Russian Far East is set to terminate at the end of March 2022, while other nations are ending their Russian LNG ties through sanctions over the Ukraine war.

The Tangguh LNG export plant in Indonesia in the Bintuni Bay region of West Papua province is progressing towards completion in mid-2022 of the third liquefaction amid the launch of carbon-capture plan in a gas field reservoir.

The latest gas appraisal well has been successfully drilled at the Maha-2 discovery offshore the liquefied natural gas export plant at Bontang in the East Kalimantan region of Indonesia.

Chinese liquefied natural gas imports rose by a third in March 2021 from the same month in 2020 when the world’s second-largest importer was cancelling cargoes because of the economic slowdown caused then by the impacts of Covid-19 in China.

National oil companies in Asian states are looking for ways to alleviate the severe financial crises brought on by the price crash and the Covid-19 pandemic and the Indonesian energy company Pertamina is planning an overhaul and spin-offs for more subsidiaries.

Inpex Corp., the developer of the Abadi onshore liquefaction and export plant in Indonesia, has awarded the Netherlands-based geo-data company Fugro a large marine survey contract to conduct geophysical and geotechnical surveys for the project.

Inpex is building the plant on Yamdena Island in a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell using feed-gas from the Abadi gas field in the Masela Block of the Arafura Sea.

The liquefaction and export plant is expected to be operational by around 2027.

Inpex has already completed preliminary front-end engineering and design (FEED) for a facility with an annual initial capacity of 10.5 million tonnes.

Dutch firm Fugro will surveys and associated studies needed to support the FEED process for offshore production facilities and the pipeline to the onshore liquefaction plant.

Fugro said the geo-data would be acquired using Fugro’s deepwater autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) “Echo Surveyor” and their robotic seafloor drill, “Seafloor Drill 2”, deployed from Indonesian support vessel.

“We are pleased to once again support Inpex, a company that understands the value provided by our geo-data expertise,” said Jerry Paisley, Fugro’s Business Line Director for the Asia Pacific Region.

“This is particularly valid for the development of the Abadi LNG project, where overcoming engineering challenges including slope stability, regional seismicity, subsea faulting and carbonate sediments will require a collaborative and informed approach at each stage of the Geo-data acquisition, analysis and advice,” added Paisley.

Indonesia’s state oil and gas regulator, the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas), said it had sent a formal recommendation letter to the Maluku provincial administration formally asking to have the liquefaction plant on Yamdena Island.

The Indonesians had earlier proposed that a 370-mile pipeline should be built to connect the Abadi gas field resources to a liquefaction plant on Indonesia’s Aru Island, while Inpex had preferred a location in the southeast Asian nation's Tanimbar Islands.

Analysts said that Inpex seemed to have had its way as Yamdena Island is the largest of the Tanimbar Islands chain.

The original Inpex plan for the Abadi project with partner Shell was to produce LNG from a floating production hull, similar to the Prelude FLNG project offshore northwest Australia that shipped its first LNG cargo in June 2019.

The Indonesians have also approved a 20-year extension to the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the Masela Block, extending the term of the PSC until 2055.

Inpex and Shell will be finalizing a marketing plan in 2020 and will also be considering supply accord for the Indonesian state-run domestic natural and electricity companies, Perusahaan Gas Negara and Perusahaan Listrik Negara.

Inpex Corp. of Japan and Royal Dutch Shell now have a firm decision from the Indonesian government on the location for their onshore liquefied natural gas plant using feed-gas from the Abadi gas field in the Masela Block in the Arafura Sea offshore Indonesia.