RI, Thailand reach basic gas pact

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina and Thailand's Petroleum Authority have reached a basic agreement on the purchase of natural gas from Natuna, Pertamina President Faisal Abda'oe said yesterday.

"We have reached a basic agreement on Thailand's intention to buy our Natuna gas but we still have some disagreements between us," Abda'oe said after addressing a discussion on trade and investment liberalization.

He said they would pursue further negotiations to resolve the differences. "We have to be patient in such negotiations," he said.

He said the natural gas marketing process took one or two years. "We spent about two years marketing the natural gas from Arun in Aceh and Bontang in Kalimantan," he said.

Pertamina general affairs director Baharuddin said recently the two countries had not yet agreed on the price of the natural gas.

"Pertamina is offering to sell the gas for US$3.1 per million British thermal units (MMBTU) while the Petroleum Authority of Thailand asks for $2.40 per MMBTU," said Baharuddin, who is also the head of the Natuna Gas marketing team.

But he said the Petroleum Authority had agreed to buy initially 400 million cubic feet (12 million cubic meters) of gas a day and one billion cubic feet (30 million cubic meters) a day when the facility was at peak production.

Unlike other Pertamina customers, who take liquefied natural gas, Thailand wants the gas from Natuna to be piped to Thailand.

The chairman of the Natuna Project Development Authority, State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie, said so far Thailand was the only country committed to buying Natuna's natural gas.

"But we plan to market the Natuna gas to other Southeast Asian and Indochinese countries," Habibie said.

The Natuna gas project is believed to be Indonesia's biggest gas field, containing about 222 trillion cubic feet. But only 75 percent is recoverable because of its high carbon dioxide content. (bnt)