State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina will accelerate its kerosene-to-liquified petroleum gas (LPG) conversion program which it claims a success, having so far distributed 40 million units since it started in May 2007, reportedly saving more than Rp 10 trillion in fuel subsidy costs.
"The program has benefited the country by saving Rp 10.7 trillion from the Rp 19.98 trillion allocated to subsidize fuels since it started," Pertamina's deputy director for marketing Hanung Budya said on Monday while celebrating reaching the 40 million target in the distribution of LPG conversion packages.
Pertamina revealed that it has no longer supplied kerosene in Jakarta since May last year.
"About 97 percent of people *converted* in West Java now use LPG, while 84 percent and 97 percent residents in East Java and Bali respectively have converted from kerosene to LPG," Hanung said.
"We expect the program to be fully implemented with people in Java and Bali by the end of this year or in January or February next year," Hanung said, adding that so far the program has reached 13 provinces across the country.
In May 2007, the government distributed 4 million LPG conversion packages. In 2008, another 15 million were distributed and then 21 million packages were distributed in the first six months of 2009.
"This year, we are targeting to reach 23 million families in the kerosene-to-LPG program," Hanung said.
The kerosene-to-LPG conversion program was launched in the hope that it would slash the government's spending on kerosene subsidies. The implementation of the program in the field, however, met a number of problems, including lack of an adequate supply of LPG cylinders for the targeted consumers.
Pertamina, which is responsible for the implementation of the program, earlier set a target to distribute 100 million three-kilogram LPG cylinders by 2009, but later on revised this target down to 84 million cylinders.
One kilogram of LPG is roughly equal in energy content to three liters of kerosene.
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