Indonesia is aiming to reduce its reliance on gas imports by building natural gas distribution networks throughout the country.
he Downstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BPH Migas) has yet to begin the auction of 72 natural gas distribution networks because of uncertainties about upstream gas supply, it says.
BPH Migas initially planned to auction the gas network projects at the district and city levels to improve natural gas distribution to households.
But the agency has postponed the auctions until the upstream gas supply is more certain. It is also evaluating consumer demand for gas to determine the expected returns on the gas network projects.
“If we hold an auction [now] then the winner of the auction will have the right to allocate the gas. However, we are unable to confirm this yet because some projects are late in several places,” BPH Migas head Erika Retnowati said in Sentul on Saturday, as reported by Bisnis.
The auction is called for in Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Decree No. 10/2023 on the national natural gas transmission and distribution network master plan for 2022-2031.
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The gas networks are broadly broken up by region, with Aceh and North Sumatra as Region I; Riau Islands, Central and South Sumatra and West Java as Region II; Central Java as Region III; East Java as Region IV; Kalimantan and Bali as Region V and Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua as Region VI.
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