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JAKARTA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Indonesia's output of liquefiednatural gas is expected to rise nearly 6 percent in 2014,although exports by the world's No.5 exporter of thesuper-cooled fuel will hold steady, its energy regulator said onThursday.
Indonesia consumes around 40 billion cubic feet of gas anddemand is rising by around 10 percent a year. This could climbfurther as the government moves away from costly oil imports toreduce its current account deficit.
Indonesian LNG, produced by companies including Total, Exxon Mobil, and BP, is shipped toJapan, Korea, the United States and China.
LNG production was expected at approximately 306 cargoes(just over 17 million tonnes) or 2,735 million standard cubicfeet a day (mmscfd) this year, said Arief Riyanto, chief of thecommercial gas division at regulator SKKMigas, up from anestimated output of 289 cargoes in 2013.
Of that total, Indonesia will export 268 cargoes, unchangedfrom the previous year, Riyanto said. In November, it hadtargetted to produce 314 LNG cargoes in 2013, of which 285 wereto be shipped out.
This year, LNG production from BP's Tangguh LNG project inPapua is expected to reach 116 cargoes, while Pertamina is expected to produce 177 cargoes at its Bontang LNGrefinery, and 13 cargoes at Arun.
Indonesia signed its first LNG import deal in December,signaling the beginning of a sea change for a country that hasbeen a key exporter of the fuel for decades.
Supplies of LNG globally have tightened in recent years dueto increased demand from energy-hungry Asian economies as wellas nuclear reactor shutdowns in the world's largest consumers ofthe fuel - Japan and South Korea.
