It is suspected that an electrical fault may have been the reason behind the fire. However, due to the ongoing conflict between the Indonesian government and an Aceh-based separationist rebel group, sabotage has not been ruled out as a possible cause.
The fire at the fields has been put out but repairs are still ongoing. These repairs are expected to take about two weeks to complete. Exxon said it has already informed its buyers about the situation.
Kardaya Warnika, deputy chairman of Indonesia's oil and gas regulator BPMigas, has revealed that the country will be short of one LNG export cargo. The PT Arun NGL plant that processes the gas from the Exxon field last year produced approximately 6.5 million tonnes of LNG last year; about 115 cargoes. Indonesia is the world's largest LNG exporter.
