PT Pertamina (Persero) projects domestic sales of Liquefied Natural Gas / LNG) this year to drop to 17.6 cargoes compared to last year's 23.5 cargoes. This is because the domestic market is still affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
President Director of Pertamina Nicke Widyawati said that the Covid-19 pandemic has suppressed domestic gas demand this year when compared to 2020. The fall
The main demand for LNG is from PT PLN (Persero) after the drop in electricity consumption has prompted the company to prioritize electricity production from the PLTU.
"In total national LNG demand this year is 17.6 cargoes from 23.5 cargoes in 2020," he said in a meeting with Commission VII in the energy sector of the Indonesian House of Representatives.
LNG sales also dropped significantly from the realization in 2019 which reached 38.3 cargoes. Referring to Pertamina's data, of last year's total LNG sales of 23.5 cargoes or 68.35 trillion British thermal units (TBTU), supply to PLN reached 22.5 cargoes. In detail, the supply to PLN is through FSRU Lampung with 18 cargoes, Benoa 3.2 cargoes, Amurang 0.4 cargoes, and Samberah 0.9 cargoes.
Meanwhile this year, the projected sales of 17.6 cargoes are entirely for PLN, namely through FSRU Lampung with 13 cargoes, Benoa and Amurang 3 cargoes, and Samberah 1.6 cargoes. Even though in 2019, LNG demand from PLN reached 37.2 cargoes, namely through FSRU Lampung 3.2 cargoes, Benoa 3.2 cargoes, and Samberah 0.6 cargoes.
Apart from PLN, domestic LNG sales are also to PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM) and PT Pertamina Niaga. However, PIM only needs LNG when it supplies gas through pipeline insufficient, while Pertagas Niaga has no need in 2020 and 2021. In detail, LNG sales to Pertagas Niaga are 1.1 cargoes in 2019 and PIM 1.1 cargoes in 2020. Seeing this condition, exports need to be made to market the company's LNG production.
Although, the global gas market is also constrained by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, even demand from Japan and China, which are the largest markets, also fell.
"However, we are still maintaining the foreign market so that the projection in 2021 overseas demand is 68.3 cargoes, a slight increase from 2020," he said.
The company's LNG export realization last year, according to data, reached 60.6 cargoes, namely to China 22.1 cargoes, Japan 21 cargoes, South Korea 10 cargoes, Taiwan 3.2 cargoes, Pakistan 1.1 cargoes, Singapore 0.4 cargoes, and Thailand 2.7 cargo.
Meanwhile, in 2019, the company's LNG exports reached 72.2 cargoes with the aim of China 18.6 cargoes, Japan 41 cargoes, South Korea 4.2 cargoes, Taiwan 3.4 cargoes, Pakistan 1.1 cargoes, Singapore 1.3 cargoes, and Thailand 2.6 cargo.
Deputy for Finance and Monetization of the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) Arief S Handoko revealed that competition for LNG sales in the global market will be tighter after the Covid-19 pandemic which continues this year.
"The price of LNG has become a new normal because there are more LNG suppliers, so the price competition is getting tighter," said Arief.
Refinery Needs
In the future, Pertamina is optimistic that domestic gas demand will increase. According to Nicke, the increase in gas demand is one of the reasons for the completion of the improvement and capacity-building project (upgrading) of existing refineries and the construction of new refineries. Gas demand for refineries is estimated at 1.5 million tons per year and will increase to 6.4 million tons per year in 2025. The company plans to replace the fuel at the refineries with gas.
"So that gasification occurs and will reduce the cost of energy for the Pertamina Group as a whole," said Nicke.
However, referring to Pertamina's data citing Indonesia's 2018-2027 Gas Balance Sheet, the national gas supply will experience a deficit of up to 8.25 million tons per year starting 2025. This is in accordance with Pertamina's gas supply-demand analysis and supported by international publications related to the forecast of global LNG supply-demand. also will be a deficit from 2023-2024.
"With the commitment of the domestic market and industry, we must make future projections so that gas supply will continue for generation and other industries," said Nicke.
In addition, the development of gas infrastructure, both midstream and downstream, must be carried out. Even the gas needs for refineries, referring to Pertamina's data, show that the company only has a commitment to supply LNG until 2023. In fact, Pertamina needs a guarantee of gas supply certainty for all refinery projects to meet the requirements of the project lenders.
According to Nicke, his party has sent a letter to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources asking for gas allocation for these refinery projects. At the same time, to mitigate risks, his party is also building infrastructure so that refineries can get LNG.
"Discussions have been carried out, with SKK Migas as well. There is a commitment from natural gas, to ensure continuity of supply, we are building LNG infrastructure as well, "said Nicke.
Investor Daily, Page-10, Thursday, Feb 11, 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment