London-based oil and giant BP Plc has temporarily suspended operations of its second liquefied natural gas (LNG) train at the Tangguh plant in Teluk Bintuni, West Papua, after a fire.
The fire struck Train 2, which produces 3.8 metric tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG, at 11:30 am local time on Tuesday, BP Asia-Pacific regional president William Lin said in an email statement sent to The Jakarta Post.
“Train 2 was immediately shut down and within one hour the fire was extinguished,” Lin said in the email. There were no injuries reported.
“Investigation is ongoing to determine cause of the fire. Train 1 was not impacted by the incident,” Lin said.
The executive did not comment on estimated losses or the firm’s strategy to make up the gas shortage resulting from the idling of Train 2 as the inquiry proceeds.
Tangguh is a massive gas project in Papua that has estimated total proven gas reserves amounting to 4.4 trillion cubic feet.
The plant comprises two production units, which a combined annual output of 7.6 million tons of LNG.
Train 1 started operation in February 2009, which was followed by Train 2 in July 2009.
All of the LNG currently produced by the plant is exported to China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
The government approved in principal BP’s proposal to build a third LNG train at the plant for US$12 billion during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister David Cameron in London last week.
The new train, expected to begin operation by 2018, will have an estimated production capacity of 3.8 MTPA when complete, bringing total gas production at Tangguh to 11.4 MTPA.
BP and its partners in the Tangguh plant have agreed as stipulated in the firm’s expansion plan to sell 40 percent of the LNG output from the third train to state electricity firm PT PLN for the domestic market.
Upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas spokesman Hadi Prasetyo said separately that the regulator hoped that BP’s plan to expand operations at Tangguh would not be delayed by the fire.
“As for the gas production shortage due to the shutdown of the Train 2, they [BP] have informed us that it can still be covered by the gas reserves provided by Train 1,” Hadi told the Post in a telephone interview.
He added that BPMigas was still waiting for BP to complete their investigation over the fire, including its cause.