Indonesian LNG marketing delegation leave for Japan, Mexico
Monday, March 31 2003 - 03:00 PM WIB
?In Japan, we will try to convince Indonesian LNG buyers to renew LNG contracts and also to promote Indonesian LNG to new potential buyers,? said Purnomo in a phone interview Monday. State oil and gas company Pertamina, which was appointed as Indonesian LNG selling agent to Japan had held several round of talks with Japan LNG buyers whose contract will expire around 2010 and also had held talks with several potential buyers.
Purnomo did not specify the potential new buyers, but said among LNG buyers the mission will meet with included Tohoku Gas and Kansai Electric. Purnomo said the mission would also meet with Japan?s minister of Economy, Trade and Industry on Tuesday. Earlier, Baihaki Hakim said Tohoku is interested to purchase 2 million tons of LNG per year from Tangguh LNG center in Papua
Indonesia is scrambling to secure contract extensions from Japanese buyers since more than 12 million tons per year of Indonesian LNG contracts to Japan will expire by 2011.
Meanwhile, Purnomo also said the team would go to Mexico after Japan to explore possibility to supply 6 million tons per annum of LNG to Baja California Regional Energy Center project in Mexico. The Baja California Regional Energy Center will be located near Tijuana, Mexico, and is an integrated complex planned to consist of an LNG offloading terminal and regasification plant, a 1,200-megawatt power generation plant. With a potential start-up in 2006, the complex would have the capacity to re-gasify up to 750 million cubic feet per day of LNG for local use as well as export to Southern California.
Pertamina and marathon had signed an MoU to supply around 6 million tons of LNG per year to Baja. Baihaki Hakim said earlier that Indonesian LNG to Baja would be sourced from Pertamina's Donggi greenfield LNG project, but Rachmat Soedibjo said the LNG could be sourced either from Donggi, Tangguh or Bontang. (godang)
