Indonesia's PLN secures most of 103 LNG cargoes required for 2026

Indonesia's state-owned utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) expects to secure most of the 103 LNG cargoes required for next year, a senior official at PLN Energi Primer Indonesia (PLN EPI) told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.

PLN's 2026 LNG requirement stands at 103 LNG cargoes, up from about 90 LNG cargoes in 2025, as it awaits the allocation of nine LNG cargoes from the government, an official with the PLN subsidiary, which is responsible for primary energy supply, said on Nov. 28.

"There are indications of 15 cargoes from Bontang and 17 cargoes from Tangguh. The remaining nine cargoes are still awaiting government allocation," PLN EPI President Director Rakhmad Dewanto said.

Together with publicly traded Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk's five LNG cargoes, Indonesia has yet to clarify 14 LNG cargoes that need to be allocated by the government next year.

A spokesperson for Indonesia's upstream regulator SKK Migas has yet to respond to a request for comment on the government's LNG allocation for PLN and PGN in 2026.

PLN has long-term LNG contracts with BP covering 62 cargoes, leaving a gap of 41 cargoes, Dewanto said.

A BP official in Indonesia confirmed it has a long-term LNG contract with PLN, declining to elaborate further.

Indonesia has three LNG plants -- Tangguh in Papua, Bontang in Kalimantan and Donggi Senoro in Sulawesi.

Indonesia's power sector is expected to grow an average of 5.3% annually through 2034, requiring infrastructure expansion and supply diversification, according to PLN. Pipeline gas supplies continue to decline, while fuel oil use for power generation has increased by 10%-15% since 2023, according to PLN. With no room to add new coal-fired capacity, Indonesia's projected power demand rise will be met by increased LNG use, according to PLN data.

PGN's requirements

The PLN's LNG requirements for 2026 came after PGN had secured 14 of the 19 LNG cargoes it expects to need in 2026, the company's president director said in a parliamentary hearing on Nov. 17.

PGN President Director Arief Kurnia Risdianto said discussions are ongoing with Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and upstream regulator SKK Migas for the remaining five LNG cargoes shipments.

SKK Migas said in February that Indonesia would face a shortage of 49.5 cargoes in 2025. The country's gas imports in 2024 rose to 1,905 billion Btu/day from 1,994 billion Btu/day in 2023, while local gas allocation reached 3,881 billion Btu/day in 2024, down from 4,075 billion Btu/day, according to data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

In 2025, there was a decline in natural gas production from the fields supplying domestic demand. To meet domestic LNG needs, the government was forced to reschedule planned LNG exports, Platts reported earlier.

However, the government remains confident that domestic gas production will be sufficient to meet national demand in the coming years, with no imports needed in 2025 or 2026, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia had said May 2.