JAKARTA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government has warned Japan's largest oil and gas company Inpex Corporation over development of a gas field in the eastern part of the country.
Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan on Wednesday threatened to abort a production-sharing contract (PSC) on the Masela block with Inpex if there is no progress in conducting a preliminary front-end engineering design (pre-FEED) on the field.
"Actually there is no deadline, but if it is too long to conduct a pre-FEED... it is better for me to cancel the contract," said Jonan.
"It is nearly seven months, Inpex has not started conducting a pre-FEED," he added.
Inpex holds a 65 percent stake in the block.
The government has offered two options on the liquefied natural gas plant capacity, namely 7.5 metric ton per annum (mtpa) with 474 million standard cubic feet of gas a day (mmscfd) and 9.5 mtpa with 160 mmscfd.
The minister said the production of the block will be channelled to downstream sectors expected to be constructed near the block.
The Masela gas field in eastern Indonesia's Arafura Sea has a capacity to produce 1,200 mmscfd and 24,000 barrels of condensate per day for 24 years. The block is expected to start operation by 2023. Enditem
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