State to pocket IDR 830 Billion from Three Gas Sales and Purchase Agreements

KATADATA - Three gas sales and purchase agreements (PJBG) have been signed during the Sarasehan Stakeholder for National Natural Gas 2015 in Bali, Monday (2/11). From the three PJBG, the state is to receive revenue in the amount of US$ 61.4 million, or IDR 830 billion.

“The total estimation of additional state revenue is in the amount of US$ 61,366.553,” said Hufron Asrofi, the Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) Ministry’s Acting Chief for Center of Public Communication, Tuesday (3/11). 

One PJBG belong to PT Pertamina EP and PT Sinergi Patriot Bekasi to fulfill the needs of electricity power plants for four years. The total gas that will be supplied reaches 3.5 million to 5 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD). 

There is also an agreement between ConocoPhillips (Grissik) Ltd and PT Odira Energi Karang Agung to fulfill the needs of oil lifting. The total gas that will be supplied is in the amount of 0.7 to 1 billion British thermal unit per day (BBTUD) for eight years. And then, the third agreement is between PT Pertamina EP and PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja Palembang (PUSRI) for the fertilizer factory needs, with total supply of 17 million MMSCFD for two years.

During the signing of agreements event, there was also a discussion about the strategic policy to manage natural gas. There are many things that the EMR Ministry and the oil and gas stakeholders were discussing, starting from price formulation and commercialization of gas up to the planning and development of gas infrastructure.

The discussion produces several agreements like upstream and downstream price setting to synergize the importance of the whole stakeholders. The purpose of this is to guarantee the availability of supply, to have normalization of downstream gas price through price pooling of natural gas procurement, and to speed up national gas infrastructure development. 

The government admitted that gas development activity in Indonesia has the greatest challenge ever. EMR Ministry’s oil and gas director general I.G.N. Wiratmadja Puja said that the challenge in developing natural gas in Indonesia is still very great. One of the challenges is about the mechanism to build the infrastructure, facility, as well as the supporting system to supply gas for the electricity power plants, either for the existing ones or for the ones that will be built across the country. 

Wiratmadja said that in the days ahead, the government will have a change to have a new paradigm in the oil and gas sector, where oil and gas will no longer be as commodity only, but as the triggering aspect that moves the economy of the people by, for example, creating new job vacancies.