Coal to become RI main source of energy supply: Minister

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said coal would become the main source of energy supply for Indonesia after the country's oil reserves ran out in 20 years.

Purnomo said at current levels of production, Indonesia oil reserves would only last for another 20 years and, he said, the country had several choices for energy supply to replace oil in the future, including natural gas, geothermal and coal.

But, he said, coal had several competitive advantages in meeting Indonesia's domestic energy needs and serving the country's export market.

"Since coal is the most abundant and it is economically one of the most competitive, on a longer term basis it is the most favored choice," Purnomo said on Wednesday in Jakarta in his opening speech at the Conference on Coal for Energy Security in the ASEAN region.

ASEAN groups the Southeast Asian Countries, including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

All ASEAN member countries sent delegates to the conference.

Purnomo said the prospect of Indonesia's coal is very promising because it had various comparative advantages and is highly competitive even under free market conditions.

"Factors such as low production costs by Indonesian coal mining companies, relatively attractive coal deposits, the availability of world class operators, and geographical advantage of transportation to 'traditional markets' supported by reliable infrastructure such as coal terminals make Indonesia competitive coal supplier to ASEAN and North Asia countries," Purnomo said.

He said from 1992 to 1996, Indonesia supplied an estimated 85 percent of ASEAN countries' total coal steam consumption.

The main coal producer areas in Indonesia are South Sumatra, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.

One the sidelines of the conference, Purnomo told reporters that the government had launched a plan to produce liquefied coal in South Sumatra in 2010 and Indonesia's Board of Research and Application Technology (BPPT) and a Japanese agency were making research to realize the plan.

He said under the plan, Indonesia would produce between 100,000 and 150,000 barrels oil equivalent of liquefied coal per day in 2010.

He said liquefied coal would be competitive if coal were worth US$10 per ton. (Godang)