Construction of S. Sumatra household gas pipeline network starts

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said led on Monday a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of the construction of gas pipeline network linking 32,000 households in Prabumulih, South Sumatra, and a gas re-fill station.

The ministry said in a statement that the Rp 543.8 billion project forms part of the government?s efforts to diversify energy consumption in the province and optimize the use of gas.

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina has been assigned by the government to develop and manage the gas pipeline network and the gas re-fill station, all of which are expected to be completed in December of this year. The gas supply will come from wells operated by PT Pertamina EP and PT Tropik Energi Pandan.

Inner city gas pipeline network linking 4,650 households has been previously developed in Prabumulih, also funded via the state budget. Pertamina has also been developing an additional pipelines linking 2,626 households. By year-end, gas pipeline network linking a combined 39,300 households would have been set up.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak