Indonesia plans to start in July construction of a 245-km (152.24 miles) gas pipeline in Java to connect excess supply in eastern part of the island to buyers in the west, an energy ministry official said on Wednesday.

The construction is expected to be completed within 17 months, Laode Sulaeman, a director at Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry told an industry forum.

This would extend the first phase of the project, a 60-km gas pipeline.

The pipeline is crucial to transport gas supply from producers in the eastern part of Java, Indonesia's most populated island, to industrial hubs in the western part of the island.

Indonesia's upstream oil and gas regulator SKK Migas estimated that gas producers in eastern Java will have excess output until at least 2035 as demand in the area have been saturated, deputy Kurnia Chairi said in a statement on Wednesday.

This year alone, the gas surplus in eastern Java is expected at averagely 90 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD), while the gas deficit in western Java is estimated at 144 MMSCFD, he added. ($1 = 16,360.0000 rupiah) (Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy)