Domestic gas sales to jump 14% in 2000

Indonesia said domestic natural gas sales this year will increase 14% to US$240.8 million as demand increases, the Asia Pulse reported, citing PT Perusahaan Gas Negara, the country's state-owned gas company.

Gas sales will rise a further 32% to US$317.5 million, the report said. PGN said its plans to build a US$400 million gas pipeline linking Sumatra and Singapore will be funded by the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank, the report said, citing PGN's spokesman Heri.

PT Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil company, and foreign contractors led by Conoco Inc. of the US will next April start supplying 325 million cubic feet of gas a day over 22 years to Singapore's Sembawang Gas, from deposits west of Indonesia's Natuna islands in the South China Sea.

Indonesia is the world's largest producer of LNG, exporting about 31 million tons a year. (*)