Government to operate first CNG carrier in 2009

The government plans to operate a special carrier by the year 2009 to transport compressed natural gas (CNG) by the sea to areas which could not be reached by pipelines, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Thursday.

The plan was unveiled by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources recently when announcing the result of the feasibility on the use of a special carrier in transporting the CNG by the sea.

The feasibility study sponsored by a consortium comprising of state owned gas distribution company PGN, Pertamina , Lemigas and several private companies indicated that the use of a special carrier to transport CNG is feasible on the condition that the distance should cover an area of between 500 and 1,000 miles, with minimal flow rate of between 150 and 250 million standard cubic feet per day.

The feasibility study was part of the activities of the task force established by the ministry several months ago to study the possibility of transporting CNG by sea, with Bali serving as a pilot project. (*)