Govt, PGN to build 77 CNG stations

State gas company PGN and the city administration plan to build 77 compressed natural gas stations in the capital, officials said Monday. The Jakarta Post reported on Tuesday.

There are 14 stations at present but six are not operating PGN general director WMP Simanjuntak said at City Hall the project required US$190 million.

He said the city administration, PGN and foreign investors would share the costs.

?Jakarta needs more gas stations to meet the demand for CNG we anticipate by 2009,? Simanjuntak said after meeting with Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso.

According to calculations, 77 stations could supply 900 Transjakarta buses, 16,732 taxis 4,700 public minivans and 247 minibuses.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said CNG usage should be promoted nationwide, considering the amount of money people could save from switching from liquid to gaseous fuels.

?CNG must be used by all Indonesians, whatever the consequences,? he said.

Last year, the administration signed an agreement with PGN and Pertamina to ensure the supply of CNG to Jakarta. PGN will pipe gas from a field in the Java Sea owned by BP Indonesia, while the CNG supply for outside the Jakarta area will be from Pertamina's gas fields in West Java.

The use of CNG was part of a 2005 bylaw on air pollution control. The bylaw also required vehicle exhaust emission tests.

The administration also asked the government to reduce the price of CNG from Rp 3,000 to Rp 2,200 per liter to encourage more people to switch to CNG. (*)