Director of Marketing and Trading Hanung Budya said here on Wednesday that the company supported the national project to convert oil to gas.
"We are ready to implement the project to convert oil to gas fuel. There is no other company that can build 150 gas stations within a year except Pertamina," he said.
According to him, the budget for the construction will partly come from the dividends, and partly from the company.
"The dividend in 2013 was Rp9 trillion, or about US$752.8 million, and can be allocated for the gas station construction. The consumption of gas will reduce the oil imports and oil subsidies, besides decreasing the emissions," Hanung said.
He added that the oil to gas conversion could refer to kerosene to LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) conversion project that has been successfully done.
Some 59 million households currently consume LPG, marking annual savings of Rp90 trillion, or US$7.5 billion, in oil fuel subsidies.
Hanung said that since the gas stations will be built at the existing oil stations, no additional land will be required for the project. The only investment needed will be to purchase the equipment -- Rp10 billion, or about US$83.6 thousand, per unit, or Rp1.5 trillion for 150 units.
According to him, Pertamina has 5,000 oil stations, of which 3,000 are located in Java.
"So, the 150 units of gas stations can be built in strategic locations," Hanung said.
Especially in Jakarta, Pertamina will build 30 gas stations, or ten percent of the total 267 oil stations.
However, this oil to gas conversion project should be supported by the availability of kit converters with an incentive scheme such as taxes, bank credits, or free distributions for public transports in the beginning.
He added that the price hike of gas fuel, which is Rp3,100, or about 26 cent, per liter is not economical as it almost equals the premium oil fuel price, Rp4,500 - Rp5,000 (38 to 42 cents) per liter.
"The gas fuel price hike policy is alongside the subsidized-premium price hike to Rp7,000 - Rp8,000 (59 - 67 cents) per liter," Hanung said, adding that the gas price should be around 50 percent of the oil price so that it can be widely sold to the people.
The other supports that should be available are workshops for cars running on gas and a policy that makes it mandatory for automobile firms to manufacture cars that run on both gas and oil.
The gas supply should also be improved through the additional floating terminal facilities and gas pipes, Hanung added.
(Uu.KR-LWA/KR-BSR/H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
