AAF wants to buy gas from ExxonMobil at $2.33 per MMBTU

PT Asean Aceh Fertilizer (AAF) is ready to buy ExxonMobil's gas at a price of US$2.33 per million British thermal unit (MMBTU), according to AAF president Rauf Purnama as reported by Bisnis Indonesia daily on Friday.

But Rauf said that the new proposed price has yet to be approved by the Minister of Industry and Trade and Minister of Finance.

"If the government approves (the new price) we'll propose it to ExxonMobil," he said.

The government of Indonesia holds a 60 percent stake in AFF, while the remainder 40 percent held by four other ASEAN members including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Philippines.

Rauf said that the proposed $2.33 price was already considered as a commercial price level.

AAF has previously been seeking for a much lower price of gas from ExxonMobil. It initially wanted to buy gas at $1.5 per MMBTU, compared to $3 per MMBTU set by Exxon at the previous contract.

The Aceh-based AAF needs around 60 million cubic feet of gas per day for the production of fertilizers. (*)