Japan still reluctant to negotiate with Pertamina on LNG

Japanese buyers were still reluctant to negotiate with state owned oil and gas company Pertamina on the purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Indonesia as the firm had yet to secure a mandate as the single seller of Indonesian LNG, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Wednesday.

Pertamina?s president Ariffi Nawawi was quoted by the paper as saying on Tuesday that the country?s highest upstream authority, BP Migas, had appointed Pertamina as the single seller of Indonesian LNG to Japanese market but LNG owners had yet to approve it.

?The Japanese will not negotiate with Pertamina as long as its status as single seller remains uncertain,? he said.

BP Migas? chairman Rachmat Sudibyo confirmed that his office had appointed Pertamina as the single seller to Japan but the decision had yet to be legally approved by the government and LNG producers.

?The LNG producers are now drafting the sales agreement,? Rachmat said.

LNG producers in Indonesia include French firm TotalFinaElf, Vico Indonesia, Unocal, ExxonMobil, BP PLC.

Pertamina is seeking to extend the contracts for the sale of 12 million tons of Indonesian LNG per year to Japan, which are due to in 2010. (*)