A consortium of PT Bakrie Pipe Industries and PT Bumi Raya Steel Industries has signed a contract with state gas firm PT PGN to supply steel pipes for the construction of a natural gas pipeline network in West Java.

The two parties signed the contract on December 22, Lalu Mara Satria Wangsa, senior public relations manager of PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk, said on Tuesday.

PT Bakrie Pipe Industries is a subsidiary of PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk.

Under the contract, the consortium would supply pipes with diameters of four inches to 24 inches worth Rp374 billion (US$38 million) with the first delivery scheduled for end of March 2006.

The 272 kilometre-long pipeline system would link Cikampek, Karawang, Bekasi, Bogor, Jakarta, Tangerang and Banten.

The pipeline system would later be connected to the South Sumatra - West Java transmission pipeline, which is now under construction.

The 1,100-km long pipeline will transmit 650 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMSCFD) from Corridor Block owned by ConocoPhillips in Gressik and gas field owned by state oil and gas company Pertamina in Pagardewa, South Sumatra.