According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (Kementerian ESDM), Indonesia had proven natural gas reserves of 41.62 trillion square cubic feet (TSCF) in 2021.
The largest proven natural gas reserves were located in Maluku, at 13,988 billion square cubic feet (BSCF), followed by Papua with 11,412 BSCF.
Meanwhile, proven natural gas reserves in other regions, such as South Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Kalimantan, were each less than 5,000 BSCF, as detailed in the graph.
Tutuka Ariadji, Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, revealed that Indonesia also possesses unproven natural gas reserves.
"Although the reserves are not significant compared to global reserves, Indonesia still has 68 potential unexplored basins that are offered to investors," said Tutuka in a press release on the official website of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Tuesday (11/10/2022).
"Indonesia will be able to meet domestic needs from existing oil and gas fields. In the next 10 years, Indonesia is also expected to experience a gas surplus from several potential projects," he continued.
Tutuka mentioned that there are currently four oil and gas projects included in the National Strategic Projects (PSN): the Indonesia Deepwater Development (IDD) Project, Abadi Masela, Jambaran Tiung Biru (JTB), and Tangguh Train 3.
Tutuka also stated that, until July 2022, more than half, or 68.66%, of Indonesia's gas production was used for domestic needs.
"This reverses the situation of several years ago where the majority was for export. Now, 2/3 of gas production is for national use," said Tutuka.
Until July 2022, the use of Indonesian-produced natural gas was mostly for industrial needs, with a proportion of 29.2%.
Then, 13.49% of national gas production was used for fertilizer, 11.62% for electricity, 8.47% for domestic LNG (LNG), 3.48% for lifting, 1.51% for domestic LPG (LPG), 0.19% for city gas, and 0.08% for vehicle natural gas (BBG) (BBG).
Gas production used for export was only 31.34%, with details of 19.58% LNG export and 11.77% pipeline gas export.