Asia/Pacific News
Indonesia Mulling LNG Bunkers
Indonesia's PT Pertamina Gas (Pertagas) plans to study the possible use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkers for state-owned shipping firm PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Pelni), the Jakarta Post reports.
"We want to make this agreement a breakthrough in [promoting] the usage of LNG," said Pertagas President Hendra Jaya.
Pertagas, a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina, took part in a pilot project using LNG as fuel for mining vehicles last year and it is now looking to extend its LNG transport efforts into the marine sector.
Pelni uses about 220 million kiloliters of fuel annually, which adds up to about 65 percent of its operational expenses, and it is considering LNG as a way to reduce that spending, freeing up money for vessel purchases and facility improvements.
"We are hoping for a positive result from the study so that other sea transportation companies will use LNG in the future," said Syahril Japarin, the shipping company's president.
Hendra said there are a number of hurdles around LNG supply and infrastructure to address before the project can begin.
"First, we have to determine how to supply the vessels," he said.
"For example, [ships] on the Jakarta-Medan route, where will their supply come from? Where will the jetty and storage be?
"We also have to take a look at Pelni vessels' capacity to use LNG."
The Indonesian government, which subsidises fuel for Pelni's fleet, has been trying to encourage adoption of other energy sources to reduce its imports of oil and oil products.
Indonesia has three LNG plants, in Arun in Aceh, Bontang in East Kalimantan and Tangguh in West Papua.
Indonesian officials discussed plans with Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Shell) in December to seek the energy major's help in the conversion of ships to LNG.
