INDONESIA - LPG Production.

Both the Bontang and Arun complexes produce LPG, from units on stream since 1988, at Arun at the rate of about 1.05m t/y (down from 1.3m t/y in 1999) and over 1m t/y at Bontang. Pertamina's Japan Indonesia Oil Co. (JIOC) markets a part of Bontang's LPG output. The bulk of the LPG production is sold to Japan on term contract basis.

Prices are influenced by Saudi Aramco's monthly pricing. Saudi Aramco's March contract price (SP) is $330/ton for propane and $295/ton for butane.

Tangguh LNG: The frontier province of Irian Jaya is an important gas zone. This is where Arco (now part of BP) has found gas fields in the Wiriagar and Berau Blocks in Bintuni Bay, in the west of Irian Jaya. One of them is the Wiriagar Deep, a super-giant with gas only having 10% CO2 content, found in 1995. In 1997, Arco teamed up with British Gas which found a huge gas field at Vorwata, adjacent to Wiriagar. The two fields are connected and their reservoir is called Tangguh. The total of proven gas reserves to be exploited for a Tangguh LNG export project is 14.4 TCF. BP, BG and their partners promoting the project now hope to get at least one 3m t/y train to be on stream by 2003/4.

The front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for the LNG plant was given in April 2000 to a partnership of Mitsubishi Corp. and its affiliate Chiyoda Corp. China is being targeted by BP to take the 3m t/y.