"Gas is environmentally friendly and is cheaper than other oil products. Conversion of oil to gas is part of the efforts to achieve the energy mix target in 2025. Pertamina is ready to support the implementation of the energy mix program," the companys president director, Dwi Soetjipto, said at the launching of the MRUs here on Monday.
He noted that the four MRUs are operated at Lapangan Banteng in Central Jakarta, SPBG Pulogebang in East Jakarta, SPBU Coco on Jalan Industri, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta and Rest Area KM 57 on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road.
Currently, 34 units of SPBG (natural gas filling station) with a capacity of 30,000 LSP each, including the MRUs, have been built in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi (Jabodetabek), Palembang in South Sumatra, Semarang in Central Java and Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, with funding from the national budget.
For 2015, Dwi said 18 SPBGs would be set up using funding from the 2015 national budget and Pertamina investments.
Regarding realization of BBG distribution through SPBGs and MRUs, Dwi said it has reached 34,553 kiloliter equivalent of regular gasoline (premium) through the end of October 2015.
"Distribution is projected to reach 42,000 kiloliter in 2015. Realization at the MRU unit in Lapangan Banteng reached 34.4 kiloliter through the end of October. The target in 2016 is set at 47,900 kiloliter equivalent of premium," he said.
Meanwhile, the director general of oil and gas of the ministry of energy and mineral resources, I Gusti Ngurah Wiratmaja Puja, said the operation of MRUs is part of a diversification effort and part of the national energy policy.
"This is in line with the national energy policy of replacing the portion of fuel oil used with gas, which is a clean energy source and its supply is abundant in Indonesia," he said.
He further said that the SPBGs and MRUs have not yet shown profits, as the margins are still low. The price of BBG is far cheaper than premium, at Rp3,100 per lsp (premium equivalent liter), while premium is Rp7,400 per liter.
In the future he hoped the margins would be appropriate, with support from Pertamina and other business agencies that take part in building SPBGs and MRUs to assure that more motor vehicles shift to BBG.
Wiratmaja also asked regional governments to ease licensing and cooperate in forcing public transports to use gas so that the diversification program will be successful and the air cleaner.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
