Korea buys more LNG from Indonesia

Korea buys more LNG from Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): The State Oil Company Pertamina and Korea Gas
Corporation (KGC) have signed an agreement on an additional sale
of six million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Pertamina
announced yesterday.

A spokesman for the state oil company, Didi Sunarwinadi, said
that the agreement was signed by Pertamina's president, Faisal
Abda'oe, and KGC's president, C.B. Park, at its headquarters here
over the weekend.

"With the agreement, Pertamina is required to export LNG to
the Korean company for the next five years starting from now," he
said.

Didi did not specify the details of the value of the purchase.
But an informed source told The Jakarta Post that the price is
slightly higher than the current price level of US$2.93 per
million British thermal units (BTU), which is related to oil
price development. One ton of LNG is equivalent to 51.87 million
BTU.

Pertamina currently exports 4.3 million tons of LNG per annum
to South Korea under 20-year contracts (since 1986) and another
1.3 million tons a year under a short-term contract.

Pertamina thus far produces some 26 million tons of LNG per
annum from its plants in Arun, Aceh, and in Bontang, East
Kalimantan. Around 18.3 million tons are exported to Japan and
1.7 million tons to Taiwan every year. (fhp)