LNG suppliers plan co-operation talks: Indonesia

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers, including Qatar, Oman and Indonesia, plan to hold co-operation talks, Indonesia Mines and Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Monday.
Asian suppliers Malaysia and Brunei could also join in the talks, which could be held before the end of the year.
However, Purnomo, who is also president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said the talks were not designed to try to form a grouping like Opec, which controls half the world's crude trade.
"Up till now there is no idea for that. The co-operation can be non-binding. But non-binding could be effective. At least moral commitments among LNG producers help each other," he said.
Purnomo said LNG producers Qatar and Oman had suggested LNG suppliers should join forces to help each other if there is a supply shortage.
"We welcome that idea. We know that we never know when so-called 'force majeure' or default will happen. If accidents happen and we cannot deliver LNG to buyers, then certainly we will ask other producers to fulfil (the commitment)," he said.
"We plan to meet and Qatar has requested that Malaysia and Brunei should be invited for the market in the Far East," he said.
"We are looking for a time now, whether in December, when there will be an energy investment meeting in Indonesia. We will invite Opec ministers during that meeting," Purnomo said.
"LNG producers' co-operation will also give security of supply to the buyers," he said.
Problems at gas fields have hampered LNG operations this year in Indonesia, one of the world's biggest suppliers, prompting the country to seek spot cargoes of the super-cooled and compressed gas to meet its contract commitments.
LNG sales are usually locked into long-term contracts running for several years or decades.
Indonesia's energy watchdog BP Migas has estimated Indonesia needs to buy four or five cargoes of LNG to meet its 2004 export commitments from its Arun plant in the country's western-most province of Aceh.
Officials are calculating how many spot cargoes Indonesia's other LNG plant at Bontang, East Kalimantan province, will need to buy to meet sales commitments.