Fanshurullah Asa , head of the Downstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BPH Migas) of Indonesia, said the decision is in line with a statement made by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif during a hearing at the House of Representatives in November last year on a plan to stop supplying gas to the city-state.
He expressed hope the decision would create added value for the nation’s natural gas and reduce its trade deficit, as the use of gas could shift to oil fuel.
The gas supply will be channeled into the Dumai Duri transmission pipeline to be distributed to industrial estates in Sumatra, namely the Sei Mangkei Special Economic Zone in North Sumatra, among other destinations.
Indonesia’s statistics show that the country’s oil and gas exports totaled US$167.5 billion last year, a 6.94 percent decline year-on-year.
