Govt disallows LNG import
Friday, February 19 2016 - 02:29 AM WIB
The government hasn?t yet issue any single permit for LNG import and the government will only issue such permit in case of LNG supply shortage on the domestic market, a senior official of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said.
?Until now, there has been no permit issued for LNG import. Import will be recommended in view of the availability of LNG domestically,? Director of Oil and Gas Program Oversight Director at the Directorate General of Oil and Gas Agus Cahyono Adi told Petromindo.com recently.
At present, Indonesia is experiencing a surplus of LNG. Of the total 267.5 std cargoes of LNG to be produced this year from the Bontang and Tangguh LNG plants, as many as 10.4 std cargoes have yet to find buyers, Director General of Oil and Gas IGN Wiratmaja said recently.
Despite the surplus, a source told Petromindo.com that stated owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) has applied for a permit to import LNG from Africa through French firm Total SA. The permit was filed by Pertamina with the directorate general of oil and gas, according to the source.
Pertamina denied having asked for LNG import permit. ?We have never asked for LNG import permit since there aren?t yet any import activities,? Didik Sasongko Widi, VP of LNG, Gas and Power at Pertamina?s Gas Directorate said in a text message.
In fact, he said, Pertamina is busy exporting LNG from Indonesia. Pertamina has indeed signed several contracts to import LNG in the future for trading purpose. ?Once we want to start importing LNG, then we shall apply for the permit,? he said.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon