Pertamina scrambles to get LNG for PIM as world supply down

State owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina is scrambling to get LNG for Aceh-based fertilizer firm PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM) as supply in the market is getting tighter.

?It will be very difficult to buy (LNG from spot market) until the end of this year,? Arie Soemarno, Pertamina?s commerce and marketing head, said.

Arie said supply into the world?s market had been getting tighter following the shutdown of one of the four trains at the North West Shelf LNG plant in Australia. Woodside Petroleum Limited, the operator of the LNG plant, has said the plant would not be able to deliver seven cargoes of LNG on time due to the shutdown.

?The LNG plant in Nigeria is also facing problem,? Arie said, without specifying.

?Demand will increase until the end of the year due to winter. Meanwhile, the supply is decreasing,? Arie said.

PIM needs LNG imports for its operation following the decrease in gas output in Aceh. Actually, the province still has some gas wells in production, which are operated by American energy firm ExxonMobil. Yet, the firm delivers most of the gas to the Arun LNG plant to meet its export commitment. (Godang)