BPH Migas cuts down minimum gas consumption requirement of households

Downstream oil and gas regulator BPH Migas has cut down the minimum gas consumption volume of households and small businesses getting supply via gas pipeline network to 4 cubic meters per month from 10 cubic meters per month.

BPH Migas Director for Natural Gas, Umi Asngada said Wednesday that the new policy is contained in new BPH Migas Regulation No 1/2017, which replaces BPH Migas Regulation No 22/2011.

Umi said that the new policy, effective starting February of this year, was made to help ease the financial burden especially of low-income households as their monthly gas volume consumption is far below the previous minimum volume requirement. It is also intended to support the government?s program to encourage households to switch from subsidized LPG into cheaper gas via pipeline.

Umi said that gas pipeline network operators, namely state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and state-controlled gas distribution firm PT PGN Tbk must follow the new policy. She said that there has been cases where the implementation of the new policy has been hampered in Lhokseumawe and Banda Aceh.

Pertamina and PGN has yet to complete assessment as to how the new policy would affect their income. Pertamina believed it would not have much affect as other consumers have monthly gas consumption volume of higher than 10 cubic meters and that supply to households are relatively small compared to supply to industries.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak