Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is facing formidable challenges to meet the portion of natural gas in the national energy mix at 25 percent by 2025.

As a growing nation, Indonesia sees its energy needs increasing, commercial director of state gas firm PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) Tbk (PGN), Danny Praditya said at the Gas Indonesia Summit & Exhibition 2017 here on Wednesday.

"The energy needs must be met in such way that ensures energy security, self-reliance and sovereignty," he said in a press statement.

The portion of gas in the national energy mix at 23 percent by 2025 means that in the next nine years the domestic gas consumption must double the consumption in 2016, he said.

"This is either big challenges or opportunities for all sides," he said.

Danny said one of the challenges is how to expedite the development of market and infrastructure.

"The target to be achieved in 2025 is to build another 40,000-kilometer gas pipelines and several LNG hubs as part of distribution system. For its part, we have to make breakthroughs in technology, business model and good governance," he said.

In addition, Indonesia is also required to be more competitive to meet demand from industries for competitive gas prices, he said.

The other challenge is that Indonesia must be able to manage needs to expedite development while at the same time it must use budget more efficiently, he added. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017