A Pertamina CNG station
Indonesia is gearing up to encourage private motorists to shift to natural gas vehicles (NGVs) with plans to add 110 new gas stations in Java at an estimated cost of Rp 4 trillion (USD 435 million), reports The Jakarta Globe. Deputy energy and mineral resources minister, Widjajono Partowidagdo, said the government is serious about developing gas-fuelled transportation. Jakarta has been earmarked for 19 of the new stations, with construction to commence in April.
PT Pertamina, Indonesia’s government-owned State Oil and Natural Gas Mining Company, is expected to take the lead with development but the government hopes to also stimulate interest from private gas pump operators.
Jero Wacik, the energy and mineral resources minister, has reportedly said the government has provided 250,000 converter kits that can shift fuel use from gasoline to processed natural gas. The government has apparently not yet decided whether the conversion kits will be subsidised.
The government recently announced a plan designed to move consumers away from state-subsidised low-octane Premium fuel through staged prohibition measures, commencing April 1 in Java and Bali. Higher octane fuels are expensive and not subsidised. Currently CNG is only sold at 10 fuel pumps nationwide: six in Jakarta and the rest in Palembang, South Sumatra, and Surabaya, East Java.
The higher octane fuel prices fluctuate between Rp 8,000 to Rp 9,000 per litre (USD 0.87 – 0.98), compared with CNG at a gasoline equivalent price of Rp 3,100 (USD 0.34) per litre.
