PLN loss may shrink this year due to lower oil price

PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Indonesia?s state-owned power producer, expects its loss to narrow 23 percent this year on lower oil prices and less consumption of oil- based fuels, The Jakarta Post reported Friday.

The net loss may shrink to Rp 5 trillion (US$=Rp 11,100) in 2009 compared with an estimated Rp 6.5 trillion in 2008, President Fahmi Mochtar told reporters in Jakarta late Tuesday. PLN plans to use 8 million kiloliters of oil-based fuels, less than last year?s 11 million kiloliters. he said

PLN is building coal-fired facilities to reduce dependence on oil as it adds 10,000 megawatts of power generation, about 40 percent of capacity, by 2010. Crude oil futures in New York have dropped 70 percent since reaching a record on July 11 as a global slowdown cuts demand for fuel.

The company plans to set aside Rp 46.4 trillion in capital spending this year, including Rp 30 trillion for power generation, Mochtar said.

PLN said in August its first-half loss widened because of higher costs of fuel and lubricants. (*)