KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. Indonesia has extended by 20 years a production sharing contract (PSC) with BP and its partners for Berau, Muturi, and Wiriagar working areas, which supply the Tangguh LNG plant in West Papua, government officials and the company said on Friday.

The extension would allow BP and its partners to operate on the fields until 2055, BP said in a statement.

BP is currently trying to increase Tangguh's production capacity by adding a new, Train-3 plant. This has faced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the plant is expected to come onstream in March 2023, SKK Migas said earlier this year.

Indonesia usually extends a PSC two to 10 years before it expires, but BP needed to ensure a longer contract to operate its Train-1, -2 and -3 optimally, Energy Minister Arifin Tasrif said.

Separately, Indonesia also said on Friday that development of BP's Ubadari field, also in West Papua, and its carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project would be included in the country's list of National Strategic Projects.

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Wahyu Utomo of the Acceleration of Priority Infrastructure Committee told reporters that such CCUS projects are needed for the country's energy industry to become cleaner and that Indonesia would benefit from the technology.

Indonesia usually puts important projects in the National Strategic Projects to accelerate their realisation, Wahyu said.

Projects in the list sometimes get special treatment such as tax breaks.

Editor: Yudho Winarto