Indonesia eyeing to market LNG to inner China

Indonesian upstream oil and gas authority BPMIGAS had commenced study to investigate possibility to sell Indonesian LNG to inner part of mainland China using smaller LNG vessels, an official said Thursday.

Budi Indianto, a BPMIGAS official who?s involved in LNG marketing said the study aimed to investigate the possibility to ship LNG through Yangtse River using LNG vessels with capacity to carry some 20,000 cubic meters of LNG.

?Technical as well as commercial aspect will be thoroughly studied,? he said, without saying when the study was expected to be completed.

?Indonesia already has experience to supply LNG to Japan?s Medium City Gas Carrier (MCGC), and we believe similar arrangement can be made China?s inner regions that are passed by the river,? he said.

Indonesia, currently the world?s top LNG exporter, is striving to get more piece of China?s LNG growing demand and is facing fierce competition from other LNG suppliers. Indonesia, which had bagged 2.6 MTPA contract to supply LNG to Fujian, is also trying to market LNG to provinces that are located in the eastern coast of China. (alex)