Japanese buyers committed to purchase 11 cargoes of LNG in December: Baihaki

Japan?s gas buyers Tohoku Electric Power Co and Tepco have expressed their commitment to purchase 10-11 cargo vessels of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Aceh?s PT Arun NGL in December, according to Pertamina.

President director of state oil and gas company Pertamina Baihaki Hakim said on Tuesday the commitment of the two LNG buyers had been expressed to him in his meeting with their leaders in Japan recently.

?I went to Japan to assure the buyers that Indonesia will always be ready to fulfill their demand for LNG. They seemed to understand it, and said they were ready to receive LNG from Indonesia?, Baihaki told Commission V of the House of Representatives in charge of mining and energy affairs in a hearing.

Baihaki said Indonesia?s success to deliver the 10-11 cargo vessels of LNG in December would encourage buyers of Arun LNG to sign 2002 purchase contracts.

Pertamina?s director of production sharing management Effendi Situmorang said recently the LNG buyers of PT Arun NGL were still unwilling to sign 2002 purchase contracts until the company can prove to be able to deliver November and December contracts.

?If Arun failed, it would lose a significant market in 2002,? Situmorang said.

He also said Pertamina expected to ship only 9 cargoes of LNG to Japan and South Korea in December.

PT Arun NGL had actually planned to ship a total of 116 cargoes of LNG or 23.5 million tons of LNG to Japan and South Korea this year. But, because of the stoppage of its operation between March and August this year, it failed to ship 66 cargoes of LNG. (godang)