RI?s LNG buyers agree to shipment reduction

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina said buyers in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan agreed to a reduction of 30 shipments of liquefied natural gas this year, The Jakarta Post reported Friday, quoting Bloomberg.

? The costumers have agreed? said Ari Soemarno, director of marketing and trading at Pertamina, in Jakarta on Thursday. ? It?s still within our contracts so there won?t be a breach of agreement.?

The drop in LNG sales will reduce Indonesia?s income from oil and gas, which the government was counting on to help narrow the country?s budget deficit.

Indonesia aims to cut 30 to 35 cargoes a year from PT Badak NGL in Bontang, the bigger of the country?s two LNG plants, because of production problems, Rachmat Sudibyo, chairman of industry regulator BPMigas has said.

Pertamina is the operator of the LNG plants, the largest in operation in the world. Soemarno declined to give the names of the buyers.

Pertamina had earlier estimated it may ship between 355 and 360 cargoes of the fuel this year. Its supply contracts allow Pertamina to cut or increase shipment to customer by 10 percent, Soemarno said earlier.

The Bontang plant faced a shortfall in gas supply last year after Unocal Corp.?s offshore Attaka field was shut for more than a week in February 2004.(*)