Government completes gas infrastructure roadmap

In a bid to help push the consumption of natural gas in the country, the government has completed a 2014-2030 gas infrastructure roadmap, the Directorate General of Oil and Gas said in a statement seen Saturday.

According to the roadmap, a total of 280 units of gas filling station will have been built by 2019, compared to 28 last year. The number is projected to further jump to 800 units in 2025, and to 1,300 units in 2030.

More gas distribution network will also be built, targeting a total of 1.2 million household connections by 2019, compared to 162,000 connections last year. The number is projected to increase to 3 million connections in 2025, and 5 million in 2030.

During a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission VII on energy and mining on Wednesday, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said said that gas infrastructure was one of the three challenges in addition to gas pricing and trade mechanism that must be resolved to help push for the domestic consumption of gas.

The government also plans to develop new gas pipelines. Until 2019, a total of 6,776 Km open access gas pipeline will be built. It would be expanded to 12,580 km by 2030. Meanwhile, 4,123 km of upstream dedicated pipeline would be built, and as well as 11,54k km of downstream dedicated pipeline.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak