Reuters: Indonesia's Pertamina seeks US LNG supply, shale equity

Indonesia's Pertamina is in talks to secure a greater supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States and to buy into a shale gas producer there, the state oil and gas firm said, as it looks overseas to fill gaps left by declining domestic output and higher demand.

Indonesia, currently the world's fourth-biggest exporter of LNG, is set to import 3-3.5 million tonnes of LNG per year by 2020, as the country increasingly turns to natural gas to generate power for its industry and to fuel trains and trucks, Pertamina's vice president of LNG Didik Sasongko Widi said.

Pertamina has already announced deals to buy 1.6 million tonnes a year from U.S.-based Cheniere Energy Inc starting 2018.

The company is now negotiating to purchase an additional 1 million tonnes a year from another U.S. export project, Didik told Reuters in an interview. The United States is set to start exports of the super-cooled gas on tankers in 2016.

As domestic gas reserves decline, Indonesia has sought to limit exports in recent years, redirecting volumes from LNG plants to domestic users instead of exports. MORE