Indonesia shows keen interest in energy cooperation with China: Report

State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, who also heads the board of the state oil and gas company PT Pertamina, said Tuesday that Indonesia sees bright prospect with China in the fields of energy cooperation in light of the solid and fast developing relations between the two countries, Xin Hua reported Tuesday.

Laksamana made the remarks during his meeting with Chinese vice-premier Huang Ju as guest of PetroChina Company Ltd. upon his arrival in Beijing.

"Energy cooperation is an issue between companies, but when strategic oil reserve is mention, it is also an important political issue," he said. He looks forward to the inking of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China's Shandong province, he said.

Vice-Premier Huang told the Indonesian official that Chinese government, as well as its oil companies, are also keen in expanding cooperation with Indonesian in the fields of oil and gas exploration and production.

According to agreement already signed by the two ountries, Indonesia will transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China's Fujian Province from 2007, with an annual supply of 2.6 million tons of LNG.

China became an oil net importer in 1993, and was the second largest oil importer in the world last year after the United States, with the imported crude oil exceeding 91 million tons. Experts predict that China will consume about 270 million tons of crude oil this year, with the net imports of over 100 million tons.(*)