PGN To Spend US$1.25 Billion This Year

Jakarta, March 28 (Antara) - Publicly traded gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk (PGN) said it has set aside US$1.25 billion for business expansion this year. M. Riza Pahlevi Tabrani, the finance director of the state company said US$200 million of the fund would be used to build an integrated natural gas infrastructure and US$400 million for business in liquefied natural gas (LNG)sector. "The remaining US$650 million for investment in the upstream sector," Tabrani after a general shareholders` meeting here on Thursday. Among the natural gas infrastructure to be built by PGN this year is networks of gas pipe connections for households and gas filling stations for public transport vehicles, he said. "The plan is to build 16 units of gas filling stations worth around Rp260 billion this year," he said. Danny Praditya, the president director of PT Gagas Energi Indonesia, a subsidiary of PGN, said most of the gas filling stations would be built in Jakarta to serve Transjakarta buses. "Other units include two units in Surabaya, two in Bogor, one in Sukabumi, and one in Pekanbaru," he said. Five of the 16 units will be Mobile Refueling Units (MRU). At the meeting the shareholders agreed to distribute Rp5.1 trillion in dividend or around 52 percent of the company`s total; net profit of Rp9.8 trillion in 2013. The government which holds the majority 56.97 percent stake will receive Rp2.9 trillion dividend , up from Rp2.8 trillion from the previous book year. PGN president director Hendi Prio Santoso said the company recorded a 16.2 percent increase in income to US$3 billion in 2013 from US$2.58 billion in the previous year. Hendi said conversion of kerosene into natural gas for household fuel is the right policy to strengthen the country`s energy security. "Natural gas fuel is safer, cheaper and environmentally friendlier," he said. After tens of years in operation PGN has never received report of accident involving household customers, he claimed. "Currently we are serving around 100,000 household customers. Under our program to increase the number to 1 million, this year we have identified 10,000 new household connections in the Greater Jakarta area," he said. Meanwhile, Krisdyan Widagdo, a spokesman of the East Java branch of PGN said the company will supply natural gas via pipes to around 2,500 households in East Java up from 900 households previously planned. "Currently we are building natural gas transmission pipeline to the northern part of East Java extending from Gresik to Tuban. The construction of the 20-kilometer transmission pipeline constitutes the first phase of the plan," Krisdyan said. He said PGN will seek to accelerate the program of conversion of oil fuel to cheaper natural gas fuel. "In Surabaya, there are 9,844 customers and in Sidoarjo 3,212 customers . By the end of 2014, the number of household customers in East Java is expected to rise to 15,631," he said.