Mitsubishi to build LNG refinery in C Sulawesi

Luwuk, Central Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Japan`s Mitsubishi Incorporation will build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) refinery in Banggai district, Central Sulawesi province, by 2010 at the latest, an official said.

Mitsubishi was in the middle of completing land clearance at Uso village some 56 km south of the district capital, Luwuk, secretary of the Banggai district administration Ismail Muid said on Saturday.

"Nearly 87 percent of around 200 hectares of land needed for the project has been cleared. The clearance of the remaining 13 percent will be completed later this month," he said at a seminar on development of the oil and gas mining sector.

He said the refinery would process natural gas from the Senoro field (Senoro and Toili blocks) and the Matindok field (Maleo-Raja and Minahki blocks) owned by PT Medco Energi International, Indonesia`s largest publicly-listed oil and gas company.

The local administration had prepared locations for ports at Uso in Batul subdistrict and Tangkian in Kintom subdistrict to facilitate LNG shipment, he said.

"The expansion of Tangkian port is underway and is expected to be completed in two years` time at the latest," he said.

The results of a survey conducted by Medco in 2000 show the Batui plain holds gas deposits of at least 1.2 trillion cubic feet (TCF) exploitaible in 100 years` time with an average annual production of 2 million tons.

At the end of August 2007, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe signed a cooperation agreement aimed at speeding up natural gas exploitation and LNG development in Banggai district.