Indonesia’s Abadi Gas Field Production Delayed

Production at Indonesia’s Abadi gas field, operated by Inpex, is likely to be pushed back until 2019 due to construction delays, Reuters said citing reports in local media.

The Abadi Floating LNG terminal was originally slated to start in 2018, with a targeted output of 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per year.

"Inpex looks like it will push back to 2019 because of construction issues affecting the development of the (Abadi) field," Gde Pradnyana, secretary of regulator SKKMigas, was quoted as saying by domestic media on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Inpex was currently completing its front-end engineering design for the project, which should be complete within 18 months, Pradnyana said, Reuters said citing a report in Investor Daily newspaper.

The Japanese firm was also seeking to extend its existing 20-year production-sharing contract, which is due to expire in 2028, to 40 years, Pradnyana said. Under Indonesian law, contractors are only allowed to extend their contracts a maximum of 10 years before their current contract expires.

Energy Ministry Oil and Gas Director General Edy Hermantoro told the Daily Investor the government was considering the request but needed to look at gas prices before making a decision, Reuters said.