Indonesia may prohibit new LNG export contracts and contract renewals in the future to divert gas to meet domestic industrial demand, a government official said.

“We have been exporting LNG for many years, but now we need it, as it turns out. We don’t want to export anymore,” Indonesia’s Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said last week at a Jakarta energy forum, according to the Jakarta Post. 

State-owned liquefied natural gas exporter Pertamina has yet to confirm whether the government will implement an export ban. Luhut told news media Wednesday that the government would likely reveal its plan for curbing exports within two or three months.

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