Indonesia is seeking to raise the prices of natural gas in contracts signed with buyers from China, South Korea and Malaysia, an official said Wednesday.

The head of a team tasked with boosting the country's oil and gas output, Kardaya Warnika, told reporters that Chinese and Malaysian buyers "understood our position."

He added that the South Korean buyer would agree to renegotiate if Indonesia increased the gas volume to be shipped.

It is not the first time Jakarta has tried to increase gas prices since oil prices started to rise sharply recently.

Warnika said gas prices already agreed with offshore buyers were currently lower than prices in the domestic market.

"The prices of gas exports should be higher than domestic prices," Warnika added.

Indonesia has a deal to sell 2.6 million metric tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas to China's Fujian LNG for 25 years starting in 2009.

South Korea's K-Power and POSCO also have deals with Indonesia to buy up to 800,000 tonnes a year for 20 years.

The gas for those buyers will be supplied from the Tangguh plants being built by a BP-led Tangguh consortium in Papua.

Indonesia also has a 20-year contract with Malaysia, signed in 1995, to supply natural gas from an offshore field in the Natuna Sea.

- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this strory -