Pertamina to develop LNG portfolio business

By Febry Silaban

State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) will import LNG as part of its goal of developing LNG portfolio business amid market oversupply.

?Going forward, the global LNG market will be marked by multi buyers and multi sources. We thus shall play portfolio business. If Indonesia does not need LNG, our LNG will be shipped to traditional buyers such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan,? Salis Aprilian, President Director of PT Badak NGL, the operator of the Bontang LNG plant in East Kalimantan.

If Indonesia needs LNG for the domestic market, the LNG import of Pertamina will thus be supplied to the local market, he said.

Salis said Pertamina already has a commitment to import 3 mtpa of LNG from the United States in the future. If the domestic market cannot absorb it, the LNG will be delivered to Indonesian traditional buyers such as Japan and Korea in a swap scheme. The countries are closer to the US compared to Indonesia.

?That means the shipping cost is cheaper,? he said.

Portfolio buyer is a term coined in the LNG business to refer to traders.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon