Indonesia Will Have to Start Importing Gas by 2020

Indonesia will have to begin importing gas by 2020 because of the poor management of its energy sector, local new portal Tempo.co reported a member of the National Energy Agency (DEN), Rinaldy Halim, as saying.

"By 2020, if Indonesia's long term contracts are not renegotiated, Indonesia will have to start importing gas," said Rinaldy at a book launch in Jakarta on Tuesday adding that at the current level Indonesia's exports still outweighed its imports. 

According to Rinaldy, around 55 percent of Indonesia's gas exports are contracted to Singapore and Japan, while the rest are used to meet domestic demands. "However, as our domestic gas demands continue to climb, Indonesia will have to start importing gas from elsewhere, unless new reserves are found and properly utilized," he said, reported Tempo.co. 

Keeping these factors in mind, Rinaldy called on the government to earmark more gas to meet the increasing demands—either by renegotiating the contracts or by exploring new gas fields, the new website reported.