Gas Negara (PT. PGN) Delays Pipeline by 6 Months; Shares Plunge (Update)

By : Leony Aurora, Bloomberg

Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- PT Perusahaan Gas Negara, the biggest gas distributor in Indonesia, delayed opening a key pipeline by six months, triggering a record plunge in its shares.

Gas Negara will delay the shipment of natural gas through a pipeline from South Sumatra to western Java due to open in March until September, company President Sutikno said in a phone interview today. A second link, scheduled to begin operation last November, will start up in March. Sutikno blamed the setback on problems buying land along the route.

The shares tumbled 23 percent on concern that the delay will slash state-controlled Gas Negara's earnings this year. The pipelines, fed by fields operated by ConocoPhillips and state oil company PT Pertamina, were expected to double Gas Negara's sales of the fuel this year as the gas meets surging demand from factories, the company's former president W.M.P. Simandjuntak said in November.

``The company's credibility is not so good now,'' said Christine Salim, head of research at PT Samuel Asset Sekuritas in Jakarta. ``We had made estimates based on the information they're giving. In the future, people will discount information from Gas Negara.''

Gas Negara shares fell 2,250 rupiah to close at 7,400 rupiah, accounting for more than half of the 1.5 percent drop in Jakarta Composite Index. The decline reduced the company's value to 34 trillion rupiah ($3.7 billion). More than 186 million of Gas Negara shares changed hands today, eleven times the three-month daily average.

`Surprised'

The delay of the pipeline comes less than a month after the government sold a 5.31 percent stake in Gas Negara, raising 2.1 trillion rupiah.

``We are surprised to see the sharp price decline,'' State Enterprise Minister Sugiharto told reporters today. ``We didn't know of any delay when we sold the shares in December.''

Analysts at CLSA Ltd. downgraded Gas Negara to ``sell'' from ``buy'' and slashed its 12-month share price forecast to 7,000 rupiah from 18,000 rupiah.

``The coincidence of the December 2006's government placement of a 3 percent stake and today's subsequent disclosure is ironic,'' CLSA analysts Angus Graham and Simon Powell said in a note today.

Sales volume may increase only 42 percent this year, Sutikno told reporters today. The company sold 338 million cubic feet a day of gas on average in 2006, he said.

2006 Profit

Gas Negara's profit more than doubled last year and revenue increased 30 percent, he said. In 2005, revenue amounted to 5.43 trillion rupiah and net income was 862 billion rupiah, Gas Negara said.

Some residents on land where the pipeline will run have requested higher prices and others disputed earlier payments, Widyatmiko Bapang, corporate secretary at Gas Negara, said by telephone today.

A portion of a loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation for the pipeline construction was disbursed later than scheduled, Sutikno said. In addition, lack of water in a prolonged dry season made it difficult to test the pipeline, he said on Jan. 5.

Japan Bank is lending 49 billion yen to the project and disbursements are still ongoing with no knowledge of any delays, said spokesman Ryutaro Nishizaki at the Tokyo-based lender.

ConocoPhillips, Pertamina

The first pipeline to be completed will take gas from Pertamina's fields in Pagardewa to Labuan Maringgai on the south tip of Sumatra, and through another segment to Cilegon in Banten, western Java.

Pertamina will send gas at 40 million cubic feet a day in March and will increase supply to 170 million cubic feet a day in end-June, Sutikno said.

The second pipeline will take gas from fields operated by ConocoPhillips in three segments, from Grissik to Pagardewa, Pagardewa to Labuan Maringgai and through to Muara Bekasi in West Java province. The Pagardewa to Labuan Maringgai segment will have two pipelines, of which one may only be completed in September.

Conocophillips will start pumping gas at 50 million cubic feet a day in July and won't be able to increase output as planned this year, Sutikno said.

``ConocoPhillips gas will temporarily pass through the pipeline that carries Pertamina's gas,'' Sutikno said. ``We can't increase ConocoPhillips's output before the second pipeline is completely finished and tested because of pressure problems.''

Calls to Iskandar Mahmud, a spokesman for ConocoPhillips in Indonesia, weren't answered.

Months to Test

After the second pipeline is totally completed in September, it may take months to test the pipeline before gas is delivered to customers, he said.

ConocoPhillips has a contract to supply 400 million cubic feet a day for Gas Negara, while Pertamina will supply as much as 250 million cubic a day.

Gas Negara has to pay Pertamina a penalty of $15,000 a day for the pipeline delay between Nov. 1 and Dec. 30, 2006, Harjana Kodiyat, head of pipeline gas at Pertamina, said by telephone today.

The penalty agreement was canceled when Pertamina's fields weren't ready to pump gas in May last year as scheduled, Gas Negara's Bapang said. ``We don't have to pay a penalty to Pertamina and we don't have such an agreement with ConocoPhillips,'' he said.

Related Article : Press release 12/1/07 - PGN’s CLARIFICATION ON MARKET RUMORS