TEMPO.CO, Bogor - State-owned gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) has urged the government to support the development of gas-fuel for transportation since the consumption of subsidized fuel has soared and burdened the state budget.
Unfortunately, the development has been going back and forth between gas and automotive entrepreneurs. "It's like chicken and egg, which one we must develop first. The gas infrastructure or its market," said PGN's spokesman Irwan Andri Atmanto at the National Energy Sustainability Symposium in Bogor earlier today.
According to Irwan, this requires a third party synergy, which is the government as the gas allocator, PGN as the infrastructure developer, and agents as brand holders on the market. "If these could all move at the same time, not waiting at one another, then the conversion from fuel to gas would certainly go smoothly," Irwan explained.
Natural gas can be utilized to fulfill various needs among others transportation, industrial, and electricity, Irwan added. Indonesia still has large gas reserve. "Some people said that without new invention, we can still fulfil demands up to 70 years."
AYU PRIMA SANDI
