Initial Phase: 3 kg 'Merah Putih' CNG Cylinders to Arrive from China

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has stated that as a prototype, the procurement of 3 kilogram (kg) Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cylinders will be brought in from China. Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of ESDM, Laode Sulaeman, mentioned that approximately 15 CNG cylinder units will soon enter the technical testing phase this July before being widely distributed. “So this July, a prototype is being made for testing. So it is being tested. About a dozen, maybe around 15. Currently, they are just from China,” he said when met at the DPR RI Building, Jakarta, Monday (29/6/2026). The imported gas cylinders use Type 4 technology with composite material, which is considered much lighter than conventional iron cylinders. The government chose this type of cylinder to suit household needs so that the process of switching from LPG does not burden consumers in terms of cylinder weight. “This cylinder material has reached type 4. Type 1 is all metal, type 2 has started to have a mixture that lightens it up to type 3, but it is still heavy. Therefore, we have to make a lighter one so that housewives later won’t feel, ‘Oh, this replacement is heavy,’ no,” he added. After the prototype CNG cylinder units arrive, the government will conduct a series of trials at the Oil and Gas Testing Centre (Lemigas), which includes pressure and safety tests on the valve. Laode emphasised that the safety factor is a priority before the commercial implementation target this year. “We test it at Lemigas; it must undergo pressure tests, and the most important thing is the safety of the valve and the cylinder. One more stage and it can be implemented and distributed this year,” he continued. In terms of price, the government is calculating the selling price of Merah Putih CNG to be equivalent to the subsidised 3 kg LPG to maintain people’s purchasing power. Although the initial phase still relies on imports, the ministry is opening up space for Chinese investors to build production facilities in Indonesia if the use of this domestic natural gas reaches a massive scale. “The price is the same. Currently, the simulation is still being equalised; even by equalising it, the subsidy can drop by up to 30%. There is an opportunity for that (domestic production). If the quantity is massive, we have the bargaining power to ask them to build here,” concluded Laode.