Source: Reuters
Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific (AG&P) LNG and its partners are poised to develop and operate liquefied natural gas import terminals in east Indonesia, part of the country’s plans to roll out distribution and increase consumption of LNG.
The company’s unit, AGP Indonesia Utama, shipping firm Suasa Benua Sukses (SBS) and oil and gas service provider KPMOG won a 20-year contract from PLN Energi Primer (PLN EPI) to develop, own and operate the terminals and other gas infrastructure in the Sulawesi-Maluku island cluster, AG&P LNG said in a statement on Tuesday.
AG&P LNG will hold the largest stake in the consortium, at 35%. PLN EPI, a unit of Indonesian state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), will hold a 30% stake.
The project will support Indonesia’s goal of reducing liquid fuel usage by about 1.7 million kiloliters per year across all clusters, said AG&P LNG chief executive Karthik Sathyamoorthy.
The Sulawesi-Maluku island cluster is the largest among six power-generating areas in east Indonesia that the government aims to develop to boost domestic LNG consumption. Within this cluster, gas will be distributed to seven locations.
“We are starting with the defined seven locations,” said Sathyamoorthy, adding “but in future, as demand increases across this wider Sulawesi-Maluku cluster, we will, as the consortium, be given exclusive rights to expand and provide additional infrastructure.”
The Sulawesi-Maluku cluster will have a total of 2.3 million metric tons per annum regasification capacity, and from this cluster, the consortium will channel gas to seven power plants with a cumulative capacity of 1,510 megawatts (MW).
Owned by PLN, the power plants in seven locations within the Sulawesi-Maluku cluster are dual-fuel and currently run on liquid fuels like diesel.
A converted floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) will be used as a primary storage facility for the cluster at one of the locations, while a small-scale LNG carrier with 23,000 cubic meter capacity will transport LNG to the six other locations.
Sathyamoorthy said the Sulawesi-Maluku cluster is expected to reach commissioning by the first half of 2026, with LNG supplied by PLN EPI from train three of BP’s Tangguh LNG facility on a take-or-pay contract that would oblige PLN to pay for a fixed volume of imports.
Singapore-based AG&P LNG, a unit of U.S. investment and development firm Nebula Energy, had earlier this month acquired a 49% stake in Vietnam’s Cai Mep LNG terminal. It also has an import terminal in the Philippines, PHLNG in Batangas Bay located south of Manila.