INDONESIA BUY LNG

Indonesia's Pertamina has signed a second agreement to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from U.S.-based Cheniere Energy Inc, as the state oil and gas company looks overseas to fill gaps left by struggling domestic gas fields.

Pertamina has agreed to purchase 0.76 million tonnes of the super-cooled gas per year for 20 years, beginning in 2019, Pertamina said in an emailed statement received on Wednesday.

The deal follows a similar agreement signed in December to purchase 0.8 million tonnes from 2018, which was the first LNG import deal by Southeast Asia's largest economy.

"This long-term contract (and) gas sales agreement shows our commitment to secure our LNG supply for company's LNG infrastructure," Pertamina Gas director Hari Karyuliarto said in the statement.

"This is in line with our strategy to dominate the LNG market and catch opportunity of the growth of domestic gas demand, especially in electricity and industry."

Indonesia faces a decline in LNG production while domestic demand for gas in the country is rising steadily by at least 10 percent annually.

Similar to the first deal, the gas will be supplied by an LNG project currently under construction near Corpus Christi in Texas.

reuters.com