Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei sign agreement on LNG

Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote cooperation in facing the growing competition in the sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world, particularly in Asian countries.

The MoU agreement was signed by Pertamina?s president Baihaki Hakim, Petronas?s president Tan Sri Dato? Mohd Hassan Marican and CEO of Petroleum Brunei Dato Paduka Muhammad Alimin Abdul Wahap in Thailand, last month.

Pertamina?s spokesman Ridwan Nyak Baik said that one of most important aspect of the cooperation agreement was that each company could use the excess of LNG production of the other companies to fulfill its export commitment.

"If there is a problem in LNG production in Indonesia, we can use the excess LNG production from Malaysia or Brunei in order to fulfill our export commitment," he said. As Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei shared the same market in Asia including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, such a cooperation agreement is quite realistic, he added.

Under the cooperation agreement, the three companies would also work together to ease pressure from buyers which at present technically control the market, Ridwan said. (*)