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The high gas price in Indonesia is unattractive and therefore discourages investment realization in Southeast Asia's largest economy, especially investment in the Chemical, Textile and Miscellaneous Industries (CTMI) segment. The main contributors to investment in this segment are the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry will revise Energy Regulation No. 8/2017 on the gross split scheme. It was decided to revise this relatively new regulation after an evaluation was conducted that included input from oil and gas contractors. Deputy Energy Minister Arcandra Tahar announced the revision earlier this week.
It has been many months since Indonesian President Joko Widodo signed Presidential Regulation No. 40/2016 on the Determination of the Natural Gas Price in the second half of 2016. However, most businesses in Indonesia still need to pay a high price for gas. Therefore, businesses are again urging the government to be committed to its gas price policy.
The government of Indonesia decided to allow more imports of gas for the domestic industry, a decision that should put downward pressure on Indonesia's gas price. Many players in Indonesia's manufacturing industry have complained about the high domestic gas prices. This causes high production costs and therefore Indonesian manufacturers lack competitiveness (compared to foreign counterparts), while foreign investors think twice before investing in the nation's manufacturing industry.
Total E&P Indonesia, subsidiary of oil & gas giant Total S.A., expects gas production at the Mahakam block (located offshore in East Kalimantan) to decline about 12.8 percent (y/y) in 2017 to 1,430 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) from an estimated 1,640 mmscfd in 2016. Arividia Noviyanto, Vice President Human Resources, Communication, and General Services at Total E&P, informed that the decline in gas production is partly explained by better-than-expected output at the Mahakam block in 2016.
For a company it is very difficult to start activities in Indonesia's upstream oil and gas sector. As a result, not unoften, activities related to exploration and production are delayed. This is the major reason why Indonesia's oil production has been declining for the past two decades, while Indonesia's gas production today does not differ much from production one decade ago. Why is it difficult for an oil and gas company to get started in Indonesia?
The Indonesian government under the leadership of President Joko Widodo is eager to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the trade deal (signed in October 2015) that involves twelve countries, including the USA and Japan. However, opinions vary about whether it would be a wise decision for Indonesia to join the TPP. Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesian Minister of Industry, is a supporter, claiming that Indonesia can become a more attractive export hub for Japanese manufacturers due to zero export tariffs.
The goverment of Indonesia plans to revise Government Regulation No. 79/2010 scrapping several taxes that have been a burden for those companies that invest in Indonesia's oil and gas industry (both the exploration and production phase). The government expects that several new fiscal and non-fiscal incentives will boost investment in this industry starting from 2017. Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said it is important for the government to share in the "pain" in order to make oil and gas projects economically viable for investors.
The competitiveness of Indonesia's steel industry remains weak. One of the main issues being the high gas price in Indonesia. High input costs make it difficult for the domestic steel industry to expand as investors prefer to import steel from abroad (mainly from China) for their infrastructure projects in Indonesia. Southeast Asia's largest economy needs about 12.5 million tons of steel per year. However, Indonesia's steel industry can only supply about 30 percent of this demand, the remainder being imported.
London-based BP, one of the world's leading oil and gas companies, submitted its final investment development decision to expand the Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility (the Train III project) in West Papua, Indonesia. According to a statement from BP, this decision will create 10,000 new jobs, boost the local economy in West Papua and will contribute to meet Indonesia's energy needs. Construction is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2016 and is targeted to be completed by 2020.
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Shares of Perusahaan Gas Negara, the largest natural gas transportation and distribution company in Indonesia, are showing spectacular growth in 2018. On Tuesday (23/01) the company's shares surged 8.91 percent to IDR 2,690 a piece. So far this year, its shares have grown a whopping 53.71 percent. What is the story behind this spectacular performance?
Again, oil and gas contractors in Indonesia urge the government to clean up bureaucracy (red tape) in this sector in order to make the investment climate more attractive, and hence trigger more (much-needed) investment in Indonesia's oil and gas industry.
There is few interest from the private sector to participate in Indonesia's oil & gas block tenders. Besides Indonesia's unconducive investment climate (that includes weak government management, bureaucracy, an unclear regulatory framework and legal uncertainty), low global petroleum prices have also managed to curb investors' enthusiasm. In a bid to entice private investors the Indonesian government has decided to change the concept for oil & gas tenders in 2016 from a fixed revenue split to an open bid split scheme.
Net profit of Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN), Indonesia's largest natural gas transportation and distribution company, fell nearly 44 percent in 2015 as gas demand from the industry sector collapsed amid slowing economic growth. Weak demand caused sharply falling gas prices. Shares of PGN, a government-controlled company that is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, plunged nearly 50 percent over the past two years amid the global commodity slump. So far this year shares of the company have fallen 4.74 percent.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo decided that the Masela liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant will be constructed onshore. Masela, located in the Arafura Sea (Moluccas), is Indonesia's largest deep-water gas project. Previously, Japan-based oil company Inpex Corp and Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell proposed to construct the LNG plant offshore (which would have made it the world's largest floating LNG plant). On Wednesday (23/03) President Widodo rejected the proposal after months of polemic. Contractors Inpex and Shell are not expected to withdraw from the project but will need time to adjust plans.
The government of Indonesia unveiled the last installment of a series of three stimulus packages on Wednesday (07/10). The first two installments had been unveiled last month. In general, these stimulus packages aim to boost economic growth of Indonesia (which has slowed to a six-year low) and restore investors' confidence in the Indonesian rupiah and stocks. When markets believed that the Federal Reserve would soon raise its key interest rate, Indonesia was plagued by severe capital outflows pushing the rupiah to a 17-year low.
Sudirman Said, Indonesian Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, announced that state- owned energy company Pertamina will become the new operator of the offshore Mahakam oil & gas block in East Kalimantan starting from 1 January 2018, replacing current operators Total E&P Indonesia (the local unit of France-based Total S.A.) and Japan-based Inpex Corporation as existing contracts expire in 2017. The Ministry, Pertamina, Inpex and Total met on Friday (27/03) to discuss the transition process.
Indonesia is facing the risk of becoming a net importer of energy by 2019 as the nation’s energy demand will reach 6.19 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) whereas the domestic energy supply will only reach 6.04 million boepd by that year. Provided that the economy of Indonesia remains expanding at a pace of +5 percent (year-on-year) while investments in energy exploration do not rise accordingly, Southeast Asia’s largest economy will become dependent on foreign energy supplies.
General Director of Oil and Gas at the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Edy Hermantoro said at the 38th IPA Convention and Exhibition on Friday (23/05) that the Indonesian government plans to tender a total of 21 blocks of oil and gas in a first bidding round in 2014. This involves 13 conventional oil and gas blocks and eight non-conventional (shale) oil and gas blocks. The government expects that these oil and gas blocks will add 3.5 billion barrels of oil and 107.7 trillion cubic (tcf) of gas resources.
Production of coalbed methane (CBM) in Indonesia will most likely not meet the government's target of 500 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) in 2015. Coalbed methane, an environmental friendly fuel, is a form of natural gas that occurs in coal beds. Although the production of CBM is a complementary aspect of coal mining, it has only started to gain attention in recent years. CBM reserves in Indonesia, estimated at 453 trillion cubic feet (tcf), are among the world's largest CBM reserves (6 percent of total global CBM reserves).
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