Donggi-Senoro LNG Project

The Donggi-Senoro LNG project involved the construction of a natural gas liquefaction plant near Luwuk in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The new plant has a capacity of 2Mt (million tons) of LNG and associated condensate a year.

The project was executed by Donggi-Senoro LNG. Donggi Senoro LNG plant began operations in June 2015 and supplied its first LNG cargo to Arun LNG receiving terminal in August 2015.

The total investment on the project is estimated at $2.9bn. By October 2014, 99.7% of the construction work of the LNG project was completed.

Indonesia is estimated to hold the biggest natural gas reserves in Asia and is the world’s third biggest exporter of LNG. Gas production, however, has been on the decline due to maturation of the existing gas fields.

The new plant is expected to boost LNG production rates in Indonesia. It is the country’s fourth LNG facility.

Processing

The new plant comprises a single LNG processing train and uses Air Products’ multi-component refrigerant LNG process technology to liquefy natural gas.

In this process, natural gas is pre-cooled with propane before it enters the main cryogenic heat exchanger. The natural gas is again cooled in the multi-component refrigerant cryogenic, and liquefied using a mixture of nitrogen and light hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane.

Resources

Natural gas for the plant is supplied by the Senoro-Toili field (250 billion cubic feet of gas a day) and Matindok field (85 billion cubic feet of gas a day) in Central Sulawesi.

The Senoro field is operated by Pertamina Energy Services and Medco LNG Indonesia. The Matindok field is operated by Pertamina.

Partners

The LNG project involves companies from three countries, namely Japan, Korea and Indonesia. Donggi-Senoro LNG was established as a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corporation, Pertamina and Medco in December 2007. The final investment decision on the project was taken by the partners in January 2011.

Following the decision, Mitsubishi established a special-purpose vehicle called Sulawesi LNG Development, in which it holds 75% interest. Korea Gas Corporation, which became a partner in the project in 2011, holds the remaining 25% interest.

Mitsubishi and Korea Gas Corporation, through Sulawesi LNG Development, hold 59.9% interest in Donggi-Senoro LNG. Pertamina holds 29% and Medco holds 11.1% in the project.

Mitsubishi is the majority stakeholder in the project and played a key role in the initial stages of its development. In January 2011, Mitsubishi acquired 20% interest in the Senoro-Toili field for $260m. The acquisition was made to improve both its upstream and downstream businesses.

Pertamina invested approximately $800m in the new plant and $300m in developing the Senoro field. It invested an additional $275m in the development of the Matindok field.

Medco invested $310.8m in the construction of the new plant and $300m in the development of the Senoro field.

Contracts

In February 2011, a $1.7bn contract for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services was awarded to JGC Corporation. The scope of this contract included the construction of a single LNG processing train plant and associated facilities.

JGC Corporation awarded a contract to Air Products for providing its patented propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant process for the new plant. Air Products also supplied a multi-component refrigerant main heat exchanger for the plant.

JGC Corporation subcontracted McConnell Dowell Indonesia to build the plant’s marine facilities. McConnell Dowell Indonesia’s scope of work included the fabrication and supply of 500 steel pipes, a steel reinforcement for jetty and a material offloading facility.

Supply contract

Approximately 1Mt of LNG produced by the plant a year is supplied to Chubu Electric Power. Kyushu Electric Power is supplied with 300,000t of LNG a year, while Korea Gas Corporation is expected to import 700,000t a year.