Jakarta Post: Missing out on the gas boom

While global energy news headlines over the past few months have been dominated by stories on the shale gas booms in the United States and Australia, which will soon make the two countries the world’s largest gas exporters, Indonesia has again postponed the approval of the contract for the development of the East Natuna gas field in the South China Sea.

We understand that the disbandment last month of the national oil and gas regulator BPMigas by the Constitutional Court has put the government in an awkward position and heightened uncertainty in the hydrocarbon industry.

But, as BPMigas was immediately replaced by a special task force directly under the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the government should have shown a sense of urgency in processing the contract, given the importance of the vast Natuna gas project in rebuilding confidence in Indonesia’s natural resources. MORE