Ministry of Finance still uncertain over gas supply to PT PIM

The Ministry of Finance is still uncertain whether or not it will be able to provide the extra payment needed for the supply of gas to two Aceh-based fertilizer producers PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM) and PT Asean Aceh Fertilizer (AAF), Kompas reported on Wednesday.

"We have to wait for the result of the evaluation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, and the Office of the State Minister of State Enterprises before making any decision," Mulia P. Nasution, the Director General of Treasury at the Ministry of Finance, said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

"The extra payment for the gas supply for the two fertilizer plants has not been included in the state budget. If we have to use the existing budget to finance the gas supply to the fertilizer producers, we should first talk the matter with DPR (House of Representatives) members," he said.

As earlier reported, Pertamina planned to import a cargo of LNG to meet the Aceh-based Arun LNG producer's export commitment to its Korean buyer. The LNG producer would not be able to meet its export commitment for May because part of the natural gas supply from ExxonMobil Indonesia would be diverted to PIM and AAF fertilizer plants.

ExxonMobil whose gas supply is only enough to meet the gas needs of the Arun LNG plant is required by the government to resume its gas supply to the fertilizer plants which have been idle due to the lack of gas supply. As the consequence, the Arun power plant will suffer a shortage of a cargo of LNG to meet its export commitment. *)