Indonesia's state-run electricity firm PLN mulls buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran to meet the surge in gas demand from its power plants, local press said Tuesday.

The company said it was currently negotiating with a view to making LNG purchases from Iran following its failure to secure gas supplies from Qatar.

PLN hoped to purchase some 4 million tons of LNG from Iran a year if Iran agreed to sell it at 5 U.S. dollars or lower per million British thermal units, reported The Jakarta Post.

PLN plans to build an LNG receiving terminal in Cilegon, Banten, to handle the gas supplies for the company's power plants in Java, particularly the 740-MW Cilegon power plant.

The LNG receiving terminal was previously scheduled for completion in 2008. However the project has been put back due to difficulties in securing gas supplies.