Pertamina and NYK to team on LNG shipping
Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen and Indonesia's Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) plan to launch a liquefied natural gas transport business, according to Nikkei Asia.
The partners will transport LNG from the Tangguh project being operated in Indonesia by British energy major BP with partners including Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp., CEO Yoki Firnandi said. Their LNG carriers will be co-owned under a joint venture to be created as early as this year.
PIS, a shipper under Indonesian state-run oil company Pertamina, aims to triple its annual sales to $9 billion by 2034 compared with 2023.
The Pertamina unit plans $900 million to $1 billion a year in capital spending and will seek to expand its fleet from the current 320 ships to about 500 by 2034 as the company broadens its focus from oil transport to LNG, the CEO said in an interview.
"For Indonesia, or even Pertamina, I believe the future will be gas," he said.
NYK Line, as the Japanese shipper is commonly known, formed a strategic partnership with PIS in 2022 and made a small investment in the unit.
PIS, which plans to go public in late 2025 or early 2026, will also seek to operate floating storage regasification units, which store LNG and convert it back into gas.
Firnandi, who called NYK Line a leader in LNG shipping, wants the two companies to cooperate on domestic and international projects, jointly owning ships and bidding on contracts.
Firnandi did not disclose the investment ratios. The companies also will consider a new business to transport liquefied carbon dioxide by ship and store it underground in Indonesia.
The LNG transported from BP's Tangguh project would go for both Indonesian use and export.
The partners have not decided whether to have partial ownership in existing ships or use new ones. "We need to work closely with BP," Firnandi said, adding that if new ships are to be built, they would be ordered in 2025 and delivered around 2028. He did not disclose the number of LNG carriers the venture will seek to operate.
Indonesia is the world's sixth-largest LNG producer. The government is encouraging not only production but also the development of related businesses like LNG shipping.
