Domestic Market Can Save Unabsorbed LNG, These Are The Conditions

JAKARTA - The government's aspiration to spur the use of gas in the country can be realized by infrastructure development, in archipelagic countries such as Indonesia can also be done by utilizing liquefied natural gas or LNG.

PGN President Director Arief Setiawan Handoko said that gas is the only low-emission fossil energy so that it can support the energy transition. However, it is necessary to reduce gas supply and accelerate its use, namely with LNG.

"Indonesia is a very large archipelagic country, there are areas that have the potential to use gas but are far from wells, to fulfill this natural gas can be transported using a mode of transportation by first changing it to LNG," said Arief, Thursday, December 22.

Arief continued, the process of changing natural gas to LNG or regasification certainly makes additional costs available. So that the gas can be affordable by its users, of course, it requires the role of the state.

"Well, we hope that LNG gets a special price," said Arief.

Arief revealed that domestic LNG equity can also help absorb LNG belonging to the government that has not yet received buyer certainty.

The potential for LNG absorption for domestic itself is estimated to occur in 2027-2028 when the contract for LNG purchases from abroad has expired.

"We have to absorb everything, uncommitted it, not in 2030 times. Maybe 2027, 2028, it feels like someone has not contracted it," said Arief.

According to Arief, the special price for LNG in the country will not be for PGN, but for final consumers to use gas at affordable prices. At affordable prices, it will certainly make users more massive.

"Why do we have a special price? We have to jointly maintain gas prices to the industry, right, or to the smelter. Earlier, the three trilema. Like it or not, we have to maintain green energy reliability, which can also be achieved or willingness to pay from this industry. We can get it. We also want to protect it," explained Arief.

One of the potential gas consumers that will grow a lot in the future is the smelter industry. PGN hopes to get a gas allocation soon so that it can immediately get confirmation of the gas sale and purchase contract.

"There is only one thing we need for our gas allocation to be made from domestic at affordable prices," concluded Arief.