RI asks Japan to help Natuna gas project

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has asked Japan, the largest buyer of Indonesia's liquefied natural gas (LNG), to help with the development of the Natuna gas project.

"The President asked Japan to help the Natuna gas project," the president of the state oil company Pertamina, Faisal Abda'oe said yesterday after accompanying the chiefs of eight Japanese electricity and gas companies at a meeting with Soeharto at his Jl. Cendana residence.

Pertamina signed agreements on Thursday with the eight companies on the extension of two contracts for the supply of LNG worth a total of US$20.3 billion.

The eight Japanese buyers are Chubu Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Co., Kyushu Electric Co., Nippon Steel Corp., Toho Gas Co. Ltd., Osaka Gas Co. Ltd., Jilco and Nissho Iwai.

Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana said after the signing ceremony that the government is also inviting the Japanese buyers to buy LNG from the Natuna gas project in the South China Sea.

Pertamina, in a joint venture with Exxon Corp. of the United States, will build the $40 billion Natuna gas project.

The president of Kansai Electric Power Co., Yoshihisa Akiyama, said that Japanese buyers have been discussing the possibility of taking part in the Natuna gas project.

He reaffirmed that Japanese buyers will continue to import LNG from Indonesia and the Natuna gas project is important to guarantee long-term supplies.

Besides Indonesia, LNG suppliers to the Japanese market also include Qatar, Australia and Malaysia, Akiyama said.

"But Qatar is too far away from Japan, so we actually prefer to buy more from Indonesia," he said.

Akiyama said that Japan imports annually an average of 42 million tons of LNG, of which 70 percent comes from Indonesia.

"LNG imports will increase by 140 percent in the year 2010," he added.(04)