PGN secures loan worth US$100 million from BNI
Thursday, June 28 2007 - 01:04 AM WIB
State-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) has agreed to provide working-capital credit worth about US$100 million to state-owned gas distribution PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN).
BNI’s president director Sigit Pramono said in Jakarta Wednesday that although the bank had provided a large amount of loan to the country’s oil and gas business sector, the $100 million loan would be the first for PGN.
"We hope we will be able to further improve our cooperation with PGN in the future," he said following the signing of the credit facilities.
Meanwhile, PGN's president director Sutikno said that the loan would be used to finance the bridging funds used for the construction of the company's South Sumatra-West Java pipeline project which is currently under construction.
He said that the gas pipeline would transmit gas from Pertamina’s Pagardewa gas field and Conoco’s Gressik gas field, both in South Sumatra to Cilegon and Bekasi.
The first section of the gas pipeline which will transmit gas to Cilegon has begun operation early this year. The second section linking Muara Bekasi was initially scheduled for operation in July but it was later delayed because floods from Musi river hampered the construction of the pipeline section connecting Grissik and Pagardewa. (*)