Natural gas aggregation and the opportunity for synchronization under Indonesian law Mailinda Eka Yuniza*, Adhika Widyaparaga**, Rifky Wicaksono***, and Putu Shanti Krisnadevi**** ABSTRACT Indonesia is blessed with numerous variants of energy resources; both renewable and non- renewable sources. From the plethora of alternatives, natural gas is among those energy resources which are gaining popularity, as evidenced by the significant increase in demand in recent years. Unfortunately, however, this positive increase in demand is not equally followed with the sufficient supply of natural gas. This consequently leads to a gap between the supply of natural gas and the increasing demand from the market. In order to equalize this disparity between supply and demand, numerous experts have raised the idea of further regulating the natural gas aggregator to resolve this issue. This article will provide a general overview of the definition of natural gas aggregators con- tained under the draft presidential regulation regarding downstream gas management and to com- pare it with the existing definitions of natural gas aggregators. The economic welfare of a State is dependent upon the effective and efficient allocation of its natural re- sources, especially for those natural resources which affect the lives of many people. Consequently, an effect- ive energy policy should become a fundamental part in a State’s long-term strategic policy as it will determine that State’s long-term survival. Indonesia is blessed with numerous variants of energy resources; both renewable and non-renewable sour- ces. From the plethora of alternatives, natural gas is among those energy resources which are gaining popular- ity, as evidenced by the significant increase of its demand in recent years. Unfortunately, however, this positive increase in demand is not equally followed with sufficient supply of natural gas. This consequently leads to a gap between the supply of natural gas and the increasing demand from the market. In order to equalize this disparity between supply and demand, numerous experts have raised the idea of further regulat- ing the natural gas aggregator to resolve this issue. This article will provide a general overview of the definition of natural gas aggregators contained under the draft presidential regulation regarding downstream gas management and compare it with the existing def- initions of natural gas aggregators. Subsequently, this article will further analyse the opportunity for synchron- ization of natural gas aggregators with the Constitution and existing laws and regulations, as well as to observe the sociological conditions which were the reasons behind the existence of rules regulating * Dr. Mailinda Eka Yuniza, SH, LLM, Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Researcher at Centre of Energy Study, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Email: mailinda@ugm.ac.id ** Adhika Widyaparaga, Researcher at Centre of Energy Study, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. *** Rifky Wicaksono, Lecturer at Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. *** Putu Shanti Krisnadevi, Student at Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Email: putu.shanti.k@mail.ugm.ac.id V C The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the AIPN. All rights reserved.  388 Journal of World Energy Law and Business, 2016, 9, 388–409 doi: 10.1093/jwelb/jww021 Article by guest on October 11, 2016 http://jwelb.oxfordjournals.org/ Downloaded from