Indonesia fears LNG data missing in New York

JAKARTA (JP): The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on Tuesday could lead to the disappearance of documents on Indonesia's (LNG) deals, which are stored in the building, a minister said on Wednesday.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the government was currently inquiring into the fate of documents held by the LNG trustee borrowing agency at its office in the building, which collapsed on Tuesday.

"We are looking into it ... I have spoken to those in America but they said they would not be able to give us an answer in 24 hours, so we'll have to see in a couple of days," he told reporters on the sidelines of a plenary meeting with the House of Representatives.

Purnomo did not name the agency, which held the documents.

According to ministry officials, the agency, which is a syndicate of American banks, handled the financing for the development of the country's LNG centers as well as the payment of Indonesia's LNG by buyers.

Purnomo noted, however, that he was still optimistic that the documents would be recovered, saying the office that handles the documents were big and that there should be a backup of the documents.

Purnomo dismissed speculation that Indonesia's LNG businesses would be affected if the documents disappeared along with the collapse of the building.

"We should not dramatize this saying it will effect our LNG trade," Purnomo said.

Indonesia is the world's largest LNG exporter with two LNG centers in Bontang, East Kalimantan and Arun, Aceh. (tnt)