Bakrie waits for gas balance plan to build gas pipeline project

PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk will not force itself to build the East Kalimantan-Central Java gas transmission pipeline. If there is no provision of gas supply for this pipeline in the gas balance plan, the Bakrie & Brothers will not build this pipeline, Media Indonesia reported Saturday.

Bakrie & Brothers director of finance Yuanita Rohali said that the company is still waiting for the gas balance plan, which according to the government, will be released in the near future. It is also hoping that the government will provide certainty on the availability of gas.

?When we participated in the tender, we received the data from Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Body, BP Migas, that there is 25 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas reserves in Kalimantan,? Yuanita said in Jakarta on Friday.

Yuanita said that without the gas balance plan and the government's decision, the company can't get the commitment on the sale of gas from producers. As a result, the buyer also can't make an agreement on distribution of gas with the Bakrie & Brothers.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Jan 16 of this year that the drafting of the gas balance which would provide reliable data on supply and demand of natural gas in certain areas have been completed.

"The gas balance will be first discussed during an upcoming cabinet meeting before being released," he told reporters. According to the minister, the data in the gas balance will be used whether or not the government would continue with its LNG export program and with the development of gas pipeline linking East Kalimantan and Central Java.

Earlier, Purnomo also said that Bakrie and Brothers will be allowed to go ahead with the pipeline project only if the company has enough gas supply and their potential buyers

"We have given the company almost a year but until now, it is still unable to find both the potential suppliers and buyers of its gas," Purnomo said on Dec 21, 2006. (*)