JP/12/LNG
JP/12/LNG
Moch. N. Kurniawan
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
State-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina has asked the
government to maintain its role in marketing the country's
liquefied natural gas (LNG) after it loses its monopoly on the
country's oil and gas industry, according to a senior company
executive.
Pertamina's spokesman Ridwan Nyak Baik said on Friday the
request was made as the government was preparing to scrap the
state company's decades-long monopoly in compliance with the new
oil and gas law.
Under the law that came into force in November last year,
Pertamina will be turned into a limited liability company next
year. It will lose its privileges over the country's oil and gas
business, including the right to market to the country's LNG.
"But we have the experience, know the mechanisms and possess a
good track record in selling LNG. So, it's normal that we should
request the government to extend our remit," he told The Jakarta
Post.
Pertamina was hoping the government would issue a presidential
decree to provide the legal grounds for the company to maintain
its job as an LNG marketer, he said.
"We're still waiting for the government's response," Ridwan
added.
At present, Pertamina exports LNG from the Arun plant in the
restive Aceh province and the Badak plant in East Kalimantan
province to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan under long-term sales
contracts.
The LNG exports reach about 29 million metric tons annually.
Pertamina is also seeking to find buyers for the planned
Tangguh LNG plant in Papua province. It is now approaching buyers
in China and the Philippines.
Ridwan said Pertamina would hold talks with the Philippine
National Oil Company (PNOC) next week on plans to collaborate in
developing a geothermal project in North Sulawesi and building a
pipeline network to deliver gas from the Donggi gas field in
Central Sulawesi to the PNOC.
Last November, both companies signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) to jointly develop a number of energy
projects worth US$1 billion in the two countries.