"We know our national interest. The receiving terminal is set to accommodate LNG."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government has not yet made a decision with regard to Japan`s request for additional natural gas supplies, chief economic minister Hatta Rajasa said.
"No decision has been made with regard to the Japanese request. But we are still considering it. We still have to study it further," he said here on Monday.
Hatta said it would be better if the allocation was for meeting domestic needs, especially now that the country already had a receiving terminal.
"So, please do not make speculations. We know our national interest. The receiving terminal is set to accommodate LNG," he said.
Hatta said he still had to wait for the results of a study by the ministry of mineral resources and energy as well as BPH Migas (the oil/gas mainstream industry authorities ) regarding the urgency for Indonesia to meet the Japanese request.
"No decision has yet been made. There has been no report yet from BPH Migas," he said.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Z Saleh said a special team was now still evaluating the possibility of Indonesia increasing gas supply to Japan.
"I have assigned a team to evaluate it but I do not know yet if it is possible or not," he said.
The Japanese government has asked for an additional supply of natural gas (LNG) and oil from Indonesia to overcome possible electricity crisis due to recent earthquake and tsunami disasters that had damaged some of its power plants.
"Due to the tsunami and earthquake the nuclear power plants have been damaged to cause massive shortage of electricity supply forcing Japan to conduct planned economization," Japan`s deputy foreign minister Makiko Kikuta said here recently.
Minister Kikuta met with Hatta Rajasa last Thursday at Hotel Borobudur, Jakarta.
He admitted that after the earthquake and subsequent tsunami Japan`s nuclear power plants had been seriously damaged so that that country was now suffering an electricity shortage.
"I have asked Hatta so that the (Indonesian) government would give additional supply of natural gas and oil to Japan," he said.
(Uu.H-YH/HAJM/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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