Govt supports fertilizer makers? plan to use associated gas

The government said Thursday it supports the initiative of fertilizer makers to study the possibility of using associated gas as raw material for producing fertilizer.

?Just go ahead with your plan to work together with the Oil and Gas Directorate General to conduct such studies,? Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in his discussion with representatives of mineral resources associations at his office.

The minister was commenting on the remarks of Zainal Doedjais, chairman of the Fertilizer Producers Association, who said in the meeting that they were planning cooperation with the oil and gas directorate general to conduct a study on possible supply of associated gas to fertilizer makers.

Fertilizer producers had repeatedly requested the government to ensure enough supply for their plants, saying that the facilities might stop operation due to gas supply shortage. Meanwhile, gas producers said that they could not raise gas supply for fertilizer makers because they were obliged to support the government LNG export commitment with foreign buyers.

Five fertilizer producers are now in operation in Indonesia namely PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM) and PT ASEAN Aceh Fertilizer (AAF) in Aceh, PT Pupuk Sriwijaya (South Sumatra), PT Pupuk Kaltim (E. Kalimantan) and PT Petro Kimia Gresik (E. Java).

Gas supply to fertilizer plants of PIM and AAF has been disrupted over the past months, causing great losses to the firms. The gas comes from ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia?s Arun fields in Aceh. (godang)