Oil, gas vessels may be required to use gas as fuel

By Ruli Setiawan

The government is considering a policy to require vessels serving oil and gas operations in the country to use gas as fuel.

The Directorate General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the upstream authority SKK Migas, and a company called PT Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia have set up a joint team to design the policy, which if realized could help reduce consumption of costlier diesel fuel by up to 65 percent.

Director General of Oil and Gas, A. Edy Hermantoro said Tuesday that one of the production sharing contractors operating in Indonesia is currently in the process of designing a vessel that could use both gas and diesel fuel, which will become a pilot project for the planned new policy.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak