[ Bontang ] Indonesia may seek buyers for 20 LNG cargoes this year

Indonesia may seek buyers for 20 LNG cargoes this year - Indonesia may soon seek buyers for 20 excess cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for delivery this year and next after existing supply contracts expire, an official at the upstream oil and gas regulator (SKK Migas) said.

"There are around 20 uncommitted cargoes from Bontang, because several export contracts are expiring," SKK Migas commercial director Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja told Reuters on Tuesday.

"We are working with (state-owned oil company) Pertamina to market the cargoes to existing LNG buyers," he added.

The Bontang plant processes LNG from the output of gas fields in the Mahakam River delta in East Kalimantan, Indonesia's main gas-producing region.

The energy ministry will first need to sign off on the price and the sale of the cargoes, Widhyawan said.

There is a high possibility that the excess cargoes will be absorbed by the domestic market in 2016. Gas demand in Southeast Asia's largest economy is expected to increase sharply.

The Bontang plant is jointly operated by Pertamina , Vico Indonesia (previously HUFFCO), French oil major Total and an Indonesian subsidiary of Japan's Sumitomo Corporation and Sojitz Corp.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Additional reporting by Fergus Jensen; editing by Jane Baird)