Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 12 -- Indonesia's state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina is negotiating spot market purchases of 125,000 tonnes of LNG from "a Middle East country" to meet commitments to buyers in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea—the country's three largest customers.
Pertamina's Trading and Marketing Director Ari Soemarno said the firm needed one shipment for April.
Pertamina had announced Jan. 18 that it would delay LNG shipments this year to the buyers. At the time, Soemarno shrugged off the delay, saying the buyers were seeking fewer LNG shipments this year.
Representatives from the three countries, however, because of stepped up needs for LNG this winter, rejected Pertamina's request for a grace period and demanded the contracted supplies. Japanese LNG importers said Indonesia was sending a bad signal to investors that would hurt the country's business competitiveness.
Indonesia had wanted to reschedule 42 LNG shipments from PT Badak LNG in Bontang, which receives gas from Unocal Corp. and Total SA, and 9 from Arun in Aceh, which ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia supplies.
The delay, which Pertamina blamed on a slight decline in gas output and a sudden need to reallocate the commodity to fertilizer producers, was expected to cut export commitments from PT Badak LNG to 335 shipments and to cut 45 shipments from the Arun plant.
If buyers continue to refuse rescheduling, however, the remainder of the shipments this year would probably be supplied from Bontang field in East Kalimantan, according to Kardaya Warnika, vice-chairman of BP Migas, Indonesia's oil and gas implementing body.
