President Joko Widodo has officially inaugurated Tangguh Train 3, a national strategic project. Tangguh, located in Teluk Bintuni, Papua Barat, is the largest gas producer in the country. When Train 3 reaches full capacity, Tangguh will account for approximately one-third of Indonesia’s gas production.
The inauguration by President Widodo marked Train 3’s start of commercial oper-ations on 18 October and underlined Tangguh’s significant contribution to the country’s energy security. The inauguration ceremony was also attended by Arifin Tasrif, Energy & Mineral Resources Minister; Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of Investment; Pratikno, Minister of State Secretary; Dwi Soetjipto, Chairman of Indonesia’s upstream regulator SKK Migas; Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, bp’s Executive Vice President, Gas and Low Carbon Energy; and Kathy Wu, bp Regional President Asia Pacific Gas and Low Carbon Energy.
“Tangguh LNG is the largest gas producer in Indonesia and the Train 3 project will play a critical role in increasing the Indonesia’s annual gas production,” said Tasrif. The Minister also pointed out that the project has employed 5450 local workers from the land of Papua.
Dotzenrath added: “We are honoured to have the President inaugurate Tangguh Train 3. Tangguh is a world-class facility with 70% of staff drawn from the local Papuan community. Indonesia is an important country in our portfolio, we are grateful for the support of the government in helping to support Indonesia meet its growing energy needs.”
The completion of Train 3 is a significant milestone for Tangguh, which has been a vital pillar of Indonesia’s energy infrastructure for the past 14 years. Around one-third of Tangguh’s three-train production is serving the domestic market, enough to generate electricity for roughly 18 million homes. On 18 October 2023, Train 3 safely shipped its first LNG cargo to PLN.
This is the first time that the President of Indonesia has visited Tangguh, which is located 3000 km away from Jakarta with no direct flight connection. For Tangguh, the journey began almost 40 years ago with the BerauPSC awarded in 1987. Construction of Tangguh Train 3 began in 2016 and the project was safely completed and ready for start-up in July 2023.
In his speech, President Widodo also mentioned the next phase of Tangguh development, the UCC Project, which is also a national strategic project. In addition to further field development, the project aims to utilise carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technology to significantly reduce Tangguh’s greenhouse gas emissions and potentially receive and store third-party carbon dioxide, supporting Indonesia’s Net Zero Emissions target of 2060 or sooner.