Government to Prioritizes Domestic Gas Supply, Minister Reveals

Jakarta – The Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif said that the government prioritizes the gas supply produced to fulfill domestic needs.

He said after a limited meeting on the government's grand strategy on natural gas chaired by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Monday.

"The government should prioritize the gas supply produced to fulfill domestic needs first. Then, we ensure that the operation is efficient. So, we can get competitive gas to support the development of domestic industries," Minister Arifin Tasrif stated on Monday. 

Therefore, the government continues to make efforts to explore and exploit gas on a large scale, as well as to utilize existing potentials in the country.

"This is expected to maintain the existence of gas supply for domestic industries," Minister Tasrif remarked.

Even so, Minister Tasrif ensured that the government will not prohibit the export of gas commodities. Excess production in the country must be utilized as income for the government.

"If we produce a lot, the country has not been able to utilize it properly. We should be able to utilize this as income for the government," he said.

Furthermore, Minister Tasrif explained that currently, the domestic gas supply is still sufficient. Of all domestic gas production, 67 percent has been used domestically.

"The rest that has not been absorbed, we make commercial sales, among others exported in the form of LNG and pipeline gas," he added. 

During the meeting, President Jokowi also instructed his staff to evaluate the costs of producing gas. Thus, it is expected that the price of gas is by its production costs and remains competitive.

"We also want to be a competitive country, especially with the region, with countries in ASEAN," the Head of State remarked.