Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, urged the acceleration of the construction of the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Bali in a bid to prioritize domestic energy needs and no longer export the commodity, according to reporting from Tempo.
Speaking at the Kura-Kura Bali Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Denpasar on Tuesday, (25.07.23) Luhut said “we support the LNG Bali project. With Pak Darmo (the managing director of state-owned electricity firm PLN), we will later collaborate with PLN and Pelindo to build it there.”
He explained that with the presence of an LNG Terminal in Bali plus all existing terminals across the archipelago, the natural gas production would be sufficient and would even see an oversupply in 2032.
The oversupply of the commodity would be primarily used to meet the domestic demand. To date, Indonesia continues to export the commodity but in the end, imports must also be conducted, say Tempo.
“We can just open it all, here in the country. It will provide added value. It will open more jobs for people, and prices can be controlled,” Luhut said.
Tempo report that The LNG terminal in Bali could lower the spending as long as it does not disturb tourist areas. Luhut also said that the government had plans to stop exports, but it must respect ongoing contracts, so the ban only applies to the new ones.
Source: Tempo
Stock image of Negishi LNG Terminal on Wikepedia Creative Commons
