PGN Commits To Fulfill Customer Needs And Maintain National Balance Gas With LNG

An illustration of a gas pipe (photo: dock. Antara)

JAKARTA - PT PGN (Persero) Tbk (PGAS) seeks to realize its commitment to optimizing natural gas utilization, especially for domestic industries and also an adaptive form of business environmental conditions by providing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

PGN's Director of Sales and Operations, Ratih Esti Prihatini, said LNG is a solution for meeting natural gas needs so that it is often referred to as energy for the future.

"LNG is a more flexible solution for natural gas transportation with sources located far from pipeline networks and natural gas demand," Ratih said in a statement to the media, Wednesday, March 6.

Ratih said that the current need for natural gas is not always and will not continue to be met by gas sources that are already connected to the gas pipeline infrastructure.

"The source of existing supply has experienced a natural decline and this cannot be avoided as reflected in the continued reduction in natural gas production in wells that have been operating for a long time," continued Ratih.

One example is the gas source for PGN from the Corridor block in South Sumatra which only supplies natural gas around 440 MMSCFD in early 2024. Previously, this block was still able to supply natural gas in 2022 and 2023 of more than 500 MMSCFD. The number of realizations of gas distribution in 2024 decreased compared to 2022 and 2023 which still reached 850 MMSCFD.

"Like it or not, we have to get used to LNG as a solution to gas balance for national natural gas needs in the midst of increasing natural gas needs, especially for industry," he added.

Ratih continued, this initiative is part of PGN's efforts to realize its commitment to meet natural gas needs to customers as well as optimize the use of natural gas as transition energy. With the management of 90 percent of national gas infrastructure in various modes of transportation, both pipelines and non-pipelines, such as Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU), Land Based Energy Terminal, SPBG, MRU, and LPG Processing Plant as well as the ability to integrate all natural gas potentials throughout the country in various types of gas molecules, PGN is confident that it can still serve customers with real, competitive and sustainable energy services.

Ratih emphasized that LNG's presence is not a substitute for piped gas. PGN will still optimize the volume of piped gas allocation so that in the event of a shortage of supply and gas availability from suppliers, LNG is the solution.

"Customers also need to understand that unlike pipe gases whose prices tend to be fixed, LNG prices tend to fluctuate because they are determined by market mechanisms," he continued.

In addition, the LNG distribution chain is also longer than the gas pipeline distribution chain. Because there are additional processes in the form of cooling, transportation, storage, and regasification. Even so, apart from being environmentally friendly, LNG is still more efficient than other fossil energy sources.