Indonesia proposes pipeline from E. Kalimantan to the Philippines: Report

Indonesia has proposed a pipeline project running from East Kalimantan to Sabah, Malaysia, and then to the Philippines, Reuters reported.

?A new pipeline was proposed yesterday by Indonesia and it was accepted by the senior officials,? said Guillermo Balce, executive director of the Asean Center for Energy on Wednesday.

The plan may replace an earlier proposal to link Indonesia?s East Natuna gas fields with Brunei and the Philippines, Balce told reporters at the Asean Business Forum in Manila.

?Asean will conduct a thorough feasibility study on this plan,? Balce said.

Balce added that the new pipeline would join a US$6 billion network of proposed pipelines to link supply and demand centers in the 10 Asean nations.

The Asean Center for Energy estimates that energy demand in eight Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines will rise 59 percent in the decade through 2010.

Southeast Asian nations need $461 billion of investments in the oil, gas and electricity industries between 2000 and 2020, said Balce. (*)