October 31, 2022
JAKARTA – The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has extended its contract to supply gas to Singapore for five years from the initial expiry date of 2023.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif told reporters that the government would continue supplying gas to the city-state until 2028, having considered domestic supply and demand.
He added that the volume exported under the extended contract would be lower than before to prioritize domestic demand.
“[Indonesia] still has [adequate] gas reserves, so we’re extending [gas exports to Singapore] for the next five years. We need to help each other,” he said on Friday.
Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas) head Dwi Soetjipto explained that declining gas export volumes were due to increased demand from the domestic fertilizer industry.
He estimated a 30 to 40 percent cut from the previous gas contract.
“We predict that [gas] prices will increase due to high demand,” Dwi said, also on Friday. He added that the government had yet to sign the five-year contract extension but expected it to be signed in November.
The energy minister announced in 2020 a plan to stop supplying gas to the city-state in the hope of creating added value for the nation’s natural gas and reducing its trade balance deficit.
Indonesia’s gas exports to Singapore come from several sources, including from the Corridor Block operated by ConocoPhillips (Grissik) Ltd., Repsol’s Talisman Corridor Ltd. and Pertamina upstream oil sector arm Pertamina Hulu Energi Corridor, which has a supply of 300 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).
Singapore’s natural gas consumption in 2020 was approximately 1.22 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), according to a 2021 British Petroleum (BP) statistical review.