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.