SKK Migas: No notification yet from Singapore regarding gas contracts
Tuesday, February 18 2014 - 12:58 PM WIB
A senior official at upstream authority SKK Migas said on Tuesday that thus far it has not yet received any notification from Singaporean buyers that they will stop gas imports from Indonesia via pipeline if the existing contracts expire.
?There isn?t yet any notification from gas purchasers in Singapore that they will not extend the contracts to purchase gas from Indonesia,? Deputy of Commercialization Control Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja told Petromindo.com.
Currently, Indonesia exports gas to Singapore via pipelines from Natuna islands of Riau Kepulauan province and South Sumatra province across the Malacca strait. Exports include up to 300 mmscfd from several blocks in South Sumatra, including the Corridor block operated by ConocoPhillips and 325 mmscfd from several PSCs in West Natuna, called together as the West Natuna Group. The gas from West Natuna is supplied to Sembawang Gas, while the gas from Sumatra is supplied to a subsidiary of Singapore Power. Both contracts end in 2023.
Some people are now speculating that Singapore may stop importing gas through pipelines from Indonesia because the city state has built its own LNG terminal which enables it to receive gas in the form of LNG from any part of the world. It does no longer depend on the gas supplies from Indonesia.
Earlier, state owned news agency Antara quoted SKK Migas?s interim Chairman J. Widjonarko as saying that Singapore will stop importing gas from Indonesia through pipelines once the current contracts expire. Widhyawan said the report is incorrect.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon