Bahlil Urges Danantara to Buy Gas from Inpex Megaproject
Tangerang, CNBC Indonesia — Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia has asked the Danantara Investment Management Agency to absorb gas from national strategic projects, including the Abadi Field in the Masela Block in Maluku, operated by Inpex Masela Ltd.
According to him, this is a government effort to optimise the utilisation of natural resources for domestic interests. Synergy between Danantara and state-owned energy companies such as PLN and PGN is seen to strengthen Indonesia’s bargaining position and accelerate the realisation of investment in the upstream oil and gas sector.
“From that perspective, for the new ones, there is Inpex; there are several K3S that have emerged for gas. If they are marketed abroad and then they are slow, I have already asked Danantara—in this case PLN, PGN, and other companies that would be the domestic offtakers—we will buy, so there can be offtake certainty, so everything can proceed,” he said at The 50th IPA Convention & Exhibition (Convex) at ICE BSD, Tangerang Regency, on Wednesday (20/5/2026).
He is mitigating the risk of project delays caused by global market uncertainties. With Danantara’s involvement as the absorber of production, Contractors for Collaboration Contracts (KKKS) are expected to have higher confidence to proceed with field execution.
“So there can be offtake certainty, so everything can run,” emphasised Bahlil.
This domestic gas supply safeguard step is also being taken in line with the government’s target to increase national oil and gas (migas) production in 2029-2030. Bahlil stressed that the government’s priority is to ensure the domestic feedstock and electricity generation needs are met before exports.
“Let our domestic needs drive our thinking,” he concluded.
It should be noted that Inpex Corporation announced that it had reached a principle agreement with PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) regarding gas supply via pipeline from the Abadi LNG Project in the Masela Block.
In addition, Inpex also reached principle agreements with several companies for LNG uptake from the project, namely bp, PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk, PT PLN Energi Primer Indonesia, and Shell Eastern Trading (Pte) Ltd.
The announcement was made during The 50th IPA Convex on 20 May 2026.
Currently, Inpex is developing the large-scale Abadi LNG project as operator through its subsidiary, Inpex Masela, Ltd., together with joint venture partners PT Pertamina Hulu Energi and PETRONAS Masela Sdn. Bhd..
Going forward, Inpex will continue discussions with prospective buyers to complete the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (PJBG) or Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA), which is expected to cover most of the project’s LNG production volume.
The principle LNG sales agreement marks an important milestone toward the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Abadi LNG project. Meanwhile, the principle gas pipeline supply agreement is expected to progress to a Gas Sales Agreement (GSA).
Abadi Field in Masela Block is an offshore natural gas field with the largest gas reserves in Indonesia, located about 160 kilometres off Yamdena Island in the Arafura Sea, at water depths of 400-800 metres. The gas potential of Abadi is estimated at 6.97 trillion cubic feet (TCF).
The Masela Production Sharing Contract (PSC) signed in 1998 and extended to 2055 could potentially yield 9.5 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) LNG and 150 MMSCFD (million standard cubic feet per day) piped gas. In addition, the Abadi Field is estimated to yield condensate production of around 35,000 barrels per day.
The greenfield development concept for such a high-complexity, high-risk field includes deepwater drilling, subsea facilities, FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading), and an onshore LNG plant, which will be both a challenge and a major opportunity for PHE and its partners to realise. The development could also absorb up to 10,000 workers.