"We will assign the concerned state-owned companies to coordinate in building the 17 gas networks in the Indonesian cities," the Director of Oil and Gas Infrastructure Development Planning at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Amaluddin Baso stated here on Wednesday.
The 17 cities/districts include Semarang city, Blora district, Sorong district, Balikpapan city, Probolinggo district, Prabumulih city, Sorong city, Bekasi district, and Pasuruan district.
The others include Bontang city, Deli Serdang district, Bogor district, Tuban district, Medan city, Sidoarjo district, Samarinda city, and Tarakan city.
In total, the gas networks will cover 132,796 households, with Balikpapan city recording the highest number with 17 thousand households connected to the gas networks.
In 2017, the government will still focus on building gas networks in 11 cities in addition to the 17 cities and districts, he noted.
The gas networks in the 11 cities will cover 1.4 million households, he added.
The Downstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Board (BPH Migas) has also familiarized the public with the plan to slash the price of natural gas distributed to consumers through the gas networks.
"The policy was taken in response to several complaints received from the public on the increase in price of gas distributed through gas networks compared to LPG," the BPH Migas Natural Gas Director, Umi Asngadah remarked.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
