GAS PRODUCTION DEPENDS ON VALUES AND INFRASTRUCTURE: MINISTER

Jakarta, Feb 6 (ANTARA) - Gas production priority to the domestic market depends on economic values and infrastructure carrying capacity, a minister said.

"Gas production top priority is still for the domestic consumption such as fertilizers and power plants, but depends on the economic values and infrastructure carrying capacity," the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Saleh Zahedy Darwin said in Jakarta, Friday.

The matter also applies to other liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts, such of the Bontang refinery in East Kalimantan which will conclude their export contracts to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan in 2010.

The government will extend the contract immediately after considering domestic needs by looking at economic values and infrastructure availability, Darwin said.

He said that if the infrastructure is not ready in a short time, it means something is wrong.
Director General of Oil and Gas of Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Evita Legowo added that Bontang refinery has allocated 1.5 million tons per year for the domestic market.

The gas will be used for the planned LNG terminal in Jakarta Bay, by PT Pertamina and PT PGN.