Conversion of kerosene-to-LPG program 99 percent completed

State owned oil and gas company Pertamina said that the national program of pushing poor households and small cmpanies to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rather than heavily-subsidized kerosene has nearly been completed.

Speaking in Jakarta on Tuesday, Pertamina?s Deputy Marketing Director Hanung Budya said that the state oil and gas company?s target to distribute 23,436,400 units of 3-kg LPG canisters to low-income families and small companies this year had been 99 percent been achieved.

?We are optimistic that before the end of this year, the target can be 100 percent achieved,? he said.

Pertamina has distributed 42,490,544 units of 3-kg LPG canister since the program launched in May, 2007.

The kerosene-to-LPG conversion program was launched in May, 2007 as part of the government?s efforts to lower the consumption of the heavily subsidized kerosene distributed to low-income families and small companies.

Hanung said that the sales of the heavily subsidized kerosene had dropped significantly to 280,000 kiloliters per month from about 830,000 kiloliters per month before the launch of the program.

According to him, since the launch of the program, the government has been able to save subsidy of up to Rp 22.40 trillion. ?After the deduction of the conversion costs including the distribution of the free canisters, the net saving from the program reached a total of Rp 10.07 trillion,? he added.

Hanung said that next year Pertamina would distribute another 10 million units of the 3-kg LPG canisters outside Java particularly in Papua. It will constitute the final phase of the distribution of the free canisters in the country, At the end of the program, the number of the free canisters distributed to low-income families and small companies is expected to reach 50 million units. (*)