State-owned gas and oil producer PT Pertamina is preparing for the possibility that 12-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canister consumers will shift to subsidized 3-kg LPG canisters
tate-owned gas and oil producer PT Pertamina is preparing for the possibility that 12-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canister consumers will shift to subsidized 3-kg LPG canisters.
Pertamina LPG and gas products vice president Gigih Wahyu Hari Irianto said that the firm had carried out the 3-kg LPG canister monitoring system, called SIMOL3K, to help in early detection of the shift of consumers as well as the distribution of bootleg LPG canisters.
With SIMOL3K, the company was able to monitor the distribution of the 3-kg LPG canisters to 3,400 agents and 143,000 bases across the country.
'The system can monitor the distribution of LPG canisters up to the subdistrict level. If consumption increases significantly in one subdistrict, we will know immediately,' he said in Jakarta on Friday as quoted by Antara news agency.
According to Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Decree No. 26/2009 on LPG supply and distribution, the 3-kg LPG canisters are only for households with a monthly income of Rp 1.5 million (US$129) and small enterprises with revenues of less than Rp 50 million a month.
Currently, the nation consumes around 1 million tons of non-subsidized 12-kg LPG canisters while subsidized 3-kg LPG sees 5.013 tons in consumption, according to the 2014 state budget.
On Aug. 6, Pertamina reported to the government that it would increase the price of 12-kg LPG canisters by as much as Rp 1,500 per kilogram.
The country's most bankable state-owned firm said that it would lose Rp 6 trillion by the end of 2014 if it did not increase the price of 12-kg LPG canisters.
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