RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has officially lowered the price of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for the industrial sector from USD23 to USD13 per Million British Thermal Units (MMBTU). This policy was adopted as a government intervention to save the national industrial sector, particularly the ceramics industry, from the threat of mass layoffs.

Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bahlil Lahadalia, emphasized that this strategic measure was taken upon direct instructions from the President. He announced this during a press conference between leaders of the Indonesian House of Representatives and the government regarding fiscal and monetary strengthening, held in Jakarta on Monday, June 29, 2026.

“Based on the President’s directive, the President is truly committed to protecting industry and jobs. Therefore, we were instructed, the industry’s input was 16 dollars per MMBTU. But after we calculated it and reported it to the President, it was lowered to 13 dollars per MMBTU. So from 20-23 dollars per MMBTU, it has now been reduced to 13,” Bahlil stated.

Furthermore, Minister Bahlil explained that the previous high LNG prices were not caused by a supply shortage. Instead, they were caused by a decline in production from gas wells in western Indonesia, including West Java, Banten, and Jakarta.

This situation forced the government to source gas from outside Java, such as Papua, Sulawesi, and Kalimantan. This shift triggered a surge in transportation and regasification costs, which reached as high as USD23 per MMBTU.

Besides cutting industrial LNG prices, the government also decided to cap the price of “Specific Natural Gas” (HGBT) at around USD7 per MMBTU. Meanwhile, the price of non-HGBT industrial pipeline gas in the Java region was set at USD9.6 per MMBTU.

Bahlil stated, “Once again, I would like to say that the HGBT rate is between 6.5 and 7 dollars. For non-HGBT industrial pipeline gas, where the source is located in Java, the rate remains at 9.6 dollars per MMBTU.”