Pertamina may cancel LPG import plan

State oil and gas firm Pertamina may cancel its plan to import liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) early next year due to an oversupply caused by the slow implementation of the government's kerosene-LPG conversion program, Investor Daily reported Thursday.

Pertamina's General Manager for Domestic Gas Nasrullah Achsan said in Jakarta Wednesday that there was an oversupply of about 200,000 tons of LPG at present as the stocks allocated for the kerosene to LPG conversion program could not be distributed in accordance with the plan.

He said that the demand for LPG would likely reach only about 1.2 million tons this year, lower than the existing stocks which reached about 1.4 million tons. "So, if there is an oversupply, we will not import LPG early next year as earlier planned," he added.

The LPG demand reaches about 1.3 million tons a year, of which about 800,000 tons are supplied by Pertamina. The remainders are supplied by Chevron, Medco and PetroChina. (*)