No decision yet on LNG contract extensions with any buyers: Official

The Indonesian has not yet made any decisions whether to extend LNG contracts with any of its traditional buyers in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

Several contracts between Indonesia with Japanese and Taiwanese buyers are due several years from now. Two contracts amounting to 12 million tons per annum (MTPA) with a Japanese consortium, comprising Kansai Electric, Osaka Gas Co., Chubu Electric Power Co., Kyushu Electric Co., Toho Gas Co. and Nippon Steel Corp, expire in 2010 and 2011, while a contract with Taiwan?s Chinese Petroleum Corp. amounting to 1.5 MTPA is due in 2009.

Bloomberg reported on Thursday that an official of Chinese Petroleum claimed that Indonesia has told the company it would not extend the contract as it would divert Taiwan?s LNG allocation to Japan.

However, Edi Purwanto, deputy for financial and economic affairs at oil and gas upstream authority BP Migas said there was not yet any decision regarding the issue.

?We have yet to make any decision (on extension of contracts with any LNG buyers) as we are still waiting for signals from the government,? Edi said.

Japan has been pressuring Indonesia to sign extension of contracts amounting to 6 MTPA, putting the contract extension as requirement for a stronger economic relation in the future. But, Vice President Yusuf Kalla, while noting that Indonesia would prioritize its gas for domestic demand, recently said the government would make decision on the matter next year after studying the amount of gas demands needed by local consumers. (Godang)