Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Announces Addition of 1 Million Gas Network Connections
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has announced that there will be an additional 1 million natural gas network (jargas) household connections to reduce the use of LPG.
“This year, 115,000 gas network connections have been completed, which is part of the ongoing conversion process. Soon, there will also be an additional 1 million gas connections,” stated the Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of ESDM, Laode Sulaeman, in Jakarta on Wednesday.
This step is part of the government’s effort to reduce LPG usage, which is expected to decrease the subsidy burden for 3kg LPG and curb LPG import figures.
In addition to the gas network expansion, Laode also mentioned that the government has been refining the database of subsidy recipients over the past two years. This database is an enhancement of the data held by Pertamina and the Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration (Dukcapil).
“It will be further refined with data from the police regarding vehicles. We will carry out that restructuring,” said Laode.
Consequently, he continued, the established quotas for subsidized diesel and LPG volumes remain unchanged compared to last year. The objective is to optimise the use of the refined database to ensure that the distribution of subsidised commodities does not exceed the allocated subsidy quota.
“The determination of the volume for subsidised diesel and LPG remains the same as last year, so that the restructuring can be effective in controlling subsidies,” Laode added.
Chief of Staff to the President, Dudung Abdurachman, has set a target for the construction of the 1 million gas network connections to be completed by 2028 to support energy self-sufficiency. The development of these household gas networks is part of the implementation of the National Priority Programme, following the directives of President Prabowo Subianto and as outlined in the 2025–2029 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN).