LPG conversion program to cover 17 cities in 2007

The government's program to convert the use of highly subsidized kerosene with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is expected to cover at least 17 cities in the country at the end of 2007, Kompas reported on Wednesday.

The cities will include Medan, Batam, Pekanbaru, Jambi, Palembang, Bandar Lampung, Jakarta, Cilegon, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Ampenan, Balikpapan, Banjarmasin, and Makassar.

Pertamina's head for fuel division Djaelani Sutomo said in Jakarta Tuesday that the cities were chosen due to their close distance with Pertamina's existing LPG receiving terminals.

"The volume of LPG to be used in each city has not been decided. But, in the first year the volume of the kerosene to be converted with LPG will reach about 1.12 million kiloliters or equivalent to 645,000 tons of LPG," he added.

Total volume of kerosene which could be replaced with LPG at the end of the program in 2010 is expected to reach 10 kiloliters or equivalent to 5.71 million tons of LPG.

He said that the pilot project for the program will be carried out in Jakarta beginning August this year.

Djaelani also said Pertamina would invite investors to build new storage facility in several cities. (*)