LNG gas plant in Aceh runs normal despite unrest

Mobil Oil Indonesia Inc., a unit of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), said Thursday that it hasn't reduced the output at its 12.8 million-metric-ton-a-year liquefied natural gas plant near the town of Lhokseumawe, Aceh, due to civil unrest in the province.

Mobil Oil Indonesia's president, Ron Wilson, said that some employees had been withdrawn for safety reasons but that the plant was operating as normal, Dow Jones reported on Thursday.

"We are monitoring the situation in Aceh closely and will take actions we deem appropriate for the daily circumstances in our operational areas," Wilson said in a statement.

However, non-essential onshore drilling and construction activities have been curtailed, he said. A civilian security official at the plant had said Wednesday that most of the plant's 2,000 workers have been ordered to stay home for the next several days.

Aceh, located on the northwestern tip of Sumatra island, has been hard-hit by clashes between Indonesian military troops and militant Free Aceh Muslim separatist rebels, who have been fighting for an independent Islamic sultanate for more than 20 years.

At least 4,000 people have died in fighting in Aceh since 1989. (*)