Megawati launches 14 alternative fuel projects worth $2 billion
Megawati launches 14 alternative fuel projects worth $2 billion
The Jakarta Post, Indramayu, West Java
President Megawati Soekarnoputri officiated over 14 oil and
gas projects worth US$1.976 billion on Monday, some of which are
expected to boost the use of clean fuel, including natural gas
and unleaded gasoline, in the country.
Four of the projects have been completed, while development of
the other 10 is to commence soon.
One of the projects that will boost the use of clean fuel is
the $485 million gas pipeline project, which will link Pagar Dewa
in gas-rich South Sumatra to Cilegon, Banten, one of the
country's main industrial regions.
The pipeline will be developed by state gas distribution and
transmission firm PT PGN.
Other projects that will also boost the use of clean fuel are
the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) mini refineries in Limau Timur,
South Sumatra, and in Cemara, Indramayu, West Java, owned by
state oil and gas company Pertamina, which have been completed.
The Limau Timur LPG plant alone will produce about 200 tons of
LPG per day.
LPG, considered a clean fuel, is commonly used by middle and
upper class households in urban areas.
Other clean fuel project launched on Monday is the facility at
the Cilacap refinery, Central Java, which will convert low-octane
mogas components into high-octane mogas components, the main
components in producing unleaded gasoline. The project, which
aims to support the government's Blue Sky program to scrap the
use of hazardous, leaded gasoline in the country by 2005, will be
developed by Pertamina.
"I urge the public to take benefits from all these projects,"
Megawati said during the ceremony to launch the projects at the
Balongan refinery complex in Indramayu.
Megawati was accompanied by, among others, her husband Taufik
Kiemas, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo
Yusgiantoro, State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim and
West Java governor Danny Setiawan.
Purnomo said the projects were expected to improve investors'
confidence in the country's oil and gas sector.
Other completed projects launched by the President are
Pertamina's CO2 removal facility in Subang, West Java, and the
compression facility at the Tunu gas fields in East Kalimantan
worth $551 million, jointly owned by upstream authority BP Migas
and Total E&P Indonesie.
Other projects being developed or to be developed soon include
Pertamina's Plaju LNG plant in South Sumatra and the procurement
of two "very large crude carriers" (VLCC) owned by Pertamina. The
260,000 deadweight ton (dwt) tankers, which are being built in
South Korea, each have a capacity for two million barrels of oil.