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Govt to ban LNG exports to meet domestic needs
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A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker arrives at a gas storage station at Sodegaura city in Chiba prefecture, Japan, on April 6, 2009, for the first shipment of LNG from the Sakhalin-2 natural gas development project in Sakhalin, Russia. (Jiji Press / AFP/STR)
T
he government plans to prohibit the export of liquified natural gas (LNG) to help supply domestic industries, Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan announced on Tuesday.
Luhut said the ban would not affect ongoing export contracts but that the policy would apply for contract renewals.
“We have been exporting LNG for many years, but now we need it, as it turns out. We don’t want to export anymore. For ongoing contracts, by all means, continue, but those that have expired, stop,” Luhut said on Tuesday in his opening remarks for the 2023 International and Indonesia Carbon Capture and Storage Forum.
He noted that domestic demand for the commodity was on the rise, particularly in the industrial sector.
This included demand from petrochemical companies, including one production facility in Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia (KIPI) in North Kalimantan, which is still under construction and due to finish in either 2025 or 2026.
“So, our petrochemical [industry] needs gas. It has been importing a lot [of LNG], and we are building the industry in North Kalimantan. We need gas,” Luhut said.
“Our own natural gas is enough. We don’t need to import anymore,” he added.
