Ministry issues regulation on dimethyl ether
Monday, September 23 2013 - 08:07 AM WIB
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Jero Wacik has issued the Ministerial Decree No. 29/2013 on the provision, utilization and trading of dimethyl ether (DME) as fuel in order to increase the use of the fuel to meet the national energy needs.
DME, a clean and colorless gas, can be directly used as fuel at industrial sector, transportation sector and households. DME can also be blended with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied gas for vehicle (LGV).
Under the decree, DME as fuel for direct use can only provided by business entities holding the license of processing and/or trading DME as fuel.
The decree further stipulates that the provision of DME as blending element can only be conducted by business entities which hold the license of DME trading, LPG trading, LGV trading in accordance with specifications determined by the government. Business entities which use DME for blending are obligated to inform end users on DME use equipment which meets standards, the ministry said in a statement released on Monday.
Big users of DME as fuel can import DME with permit from the minister after considering the availability of local supplies, but they are not allowed to sell the fuel on the domestic market.
The directorate general will set the standards of DME products as long as the standards have not been set by the Indonesia National Standards (SNI).
Business entities will set the selling price of DME after considering the following aspects: a) the purchasing power of consumers. b) continuity of supply and provision of DME. c) margin to be reaped by the business entities.
The DME distribution, provision and trading will be supervised by the directorate general.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon