Gus Dur says Indonesia will sell LNG to India and China
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid said Friday Indonesia would sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) products from the planned Tangguh LNG plant in Irian Jaya to China, and some LNG products from the Bontang LNG plant in East Kalimantan to India.
The President, who is familiarly referred to as Gus Dur, said the Indian and Chinese companies, which were interested in buying Indonesian LNG products, had been asked to contact the companies which operate or would operate the production plants concerned.
"It has also been suggested that they contact the Minister of Mines and Energy and (state oil and gas company) Pertamina," Gus Dur was quoted by Antara as saying in his speech during the ceremony to inaugurate the new production facilities of state- owned fertilizer company PT Pupuk Kaltim in Bontang.
Gus Dur was accompanied by State Minister of Investment/State Enterprises Development Rozy Munir and East Kalimantan's governor Suwarna Abdul Fatah.
It is unclear if Pertamina has reached or is close to an agreement with gas buyers in India and China on the sale of LNG from both LNG centers.
During Gus Dur's visit to India earlier this year, the Indian government expressed interest in purchasing Indonesian LNG, but at that time, Pertamina officials did not take it seriously as the country had often made similar statements in the past without any follow-up.
Indonesia is also facing tight competition from Qatar and Australia to sell LNG products from the planned Tangguh LNG plant to China.
Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Pertamina's president Baihaki Hakim were on a visit to China from Tuesday to Friday to market the Tangguh LNG.
The results of the marketing efforts remained unclear as of Friday.
The Bontang LNG plant, which is the country's largest LNG facility, has eight trains with a total capacity of 27.2 million tons per year.
Pertamina and its production sharing contractors including BP Amoco plan to develop the Tangguh LNG plant with a production capacity of six million tons per year.
Indonesia has another LNG center in Arun, Aceh, with about a similar capacity but its production had decreased due to the depletion of natural gas resources.
New fertilizer
Gus Dur inaugurated Papuk Kaltim's two new production facilities, that is the US$80.8 million Urea Unit IV plant with a production capacity of 570,000 tons of granulated urea per year and the $359.7 million Kaltim-4 plant with a production capacity of 330,000 tons of ammonia and 570,000 tons of urea per year.
In the same ceremony, Gus Dur also inaugurated an ammonia production plant with a capacity of 660,000 tons per year owned by PT Kaltim Pacific Amoniak.
The ammonia plant has been built in an industrial estate owned by Pupuk Kaltim but the owner has no links with Pupuk Kaltim.
Pupuk Kaltim president Syaiful Amir reported that the new urea factory would bring the company's total annual output to 2.4 million tons.
Commenting on Syaiful's report, Gus Dur asked Pupuk Kaltim to step up its research and development activities to find a new type of fertilizer that could lead to a significant increase in the country's rice production.
He recounted that state-owned fertilizer manufacturer PT Petrokimia Gresik in East Java had been able to launch a new fertilizer which was capable of boosting per-hectare rice production from five to nine tons.
He said if Indonesia failed to maximize research for high- yield rice varieties, the country would lose out to other countries in meeting its own market demand for rice.
The President also called on the East Kalimantan authorities to pay proper attention to the development of areas bordering on the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah to prevent an increase in log smuggling activity. (jsk)