Undated photo of residents queue to buy 3-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canisters during a market operation in Surakarta, Central Java.(Photo: Antara) The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said thesefields could help the country reduce costly LPG imports, where large amountsare supplied from the US and the Middle East.
"If we could work on it immediately, this couldadd 1.2 million tonnes [to our LPG production], on top of the currentproduction of around 1.9 million tonnes," energy minister Arifin Tasrif said,as quoted by Bisnis.com.
According to the ministry, Indonesia consumes 8million tonnes of LPG annually with 83% of the supply derived from imports.
Last year, Indonesia imported 6.78 million tonnes ofLPG, a 5.6% hike compared with the previous year, with shipments mostly comingfrom the US, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
Previously, the ministry tasked the Upstream Oil andGas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas) to identify potential oil and gasfields in the country that could help local LPG production, which requires gascontaining more than 4% propane and butane.
Over the past time, the government has sought toreduce LPG consumption by pushing consumers to shift to the state-backed pipedgas network and use electric stoves. Other efforts include producingcoal-derived dimethyl ether (DME), which it saw could substitute for costly LPGimports./.
VNA
