PLN Batam asks for clarity about gas price

PLN Batam has sent a letter to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro asking for the clarity of the price of gas to be supplied by ConocoPhillips Indonesia for its new power plant in Panaran, Batam.

Bisnis Indonesia reported on Friday that the uncertainty related to the price of the gas could delay the operation of the new Panaran power plant, which had been scheduled to operate in September, this year.

Eri Ifyandri, the president director of PLN Batam, said that the company had negotiated the gas price for several times with BP Migas but no positive results had been made.

He said that PLN Batam had proposed to buy the gas from Conoco at US$2.99 per million British thermal unit, which should be higher than those sold to other domestic buyers. But BP Migas has indicated that Conoco, which acted as the government’s production sharing partner had to sell the gas at US$3.19 per MMBTU. (*)