Pertamina eyes DME production

By Febry Silaban

Petromindo|Boim

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina is considering to enter dimethyl ether (DME) production as an alternative to LPG, whose future production is projected to decline both at home and overseas.

Pertamina Vice President Director Ahmad Bambang said on Monday that the company is currently looking for the right technology to produce DME such as by processing the country?s huge low rank coal reserves into gas.

?Gas in Indonesia is becoming leaner as the C3 and C4 content is increasingly gone, thus making the LPG production declining. This is a problem both at home and overseas. As a result, supply (of LPG) will be more difficult going forward,? he said on the sidelines of the 2017 LPG Indonesia Forum.

He said that future LPG production from LNG in Indonesia will among others come from the Masela block.

?So other energy alternatives are being sought, converting coal into DME and ethanol, which can replace LPG. This (alternative) is being assessed by Pertamina including the technology,? Ahmad said.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak