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Mitra Energi Persada sets sights on eastern Indonesia
Publicly listed natural gas trader PT Mitra Energi Persada (MEP) plans to expand its business to the eastern part of Indonesia in the next few years, following its partial acquisition by Japanese firm Shizuoka Gas
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ublicly listed natural gas trader PT Mitra Energi Persada (MEP) plans to expand its business to the eastern part of Indonesia in the next few years, following its partial acquisition by Japanese firm Shizuoka Gas.
Earlier this month, Shizuoka Gas, also known as Shizgas, acquired 7.5 percent of MEP’s shares from the latter’s majority shareholder, PT Mulya Tara Mandiri, which previously controlled 75.09 percent of the shares.
MEP president director Ivo Wongkaren said the Japanese shareholder would bring the necessary technological support to drive its business expansion.
“With this cooperation, we are ready to set our presence in eastern Indonesia,” he said in a press conference on Friday.
In the next few years, MEP will build a compressing natural gas (CNG) plant with a capacity of 2 to 2.5 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) in the eastern part of the archipelago.
To prepare for the plan, MEP will soon carry out a series of feasibility studies in the region to map out its capabilities, as well as the supply and demand. The results are expected to be released by mid-2018.
Ivo said the move would be in line with the government’s policy to improve energy distribution in Indonesia’s easternmost islands.
In the shorter term, the entry of Shizgas, Japan’s fourth largest gas distributor, will also help boost its existing gas distribution business in South Sumatra, where MEP mostly serves pulp and paper, as well as rubber producers.
At present, it runs a 25-kilometer gas pipeline through the province’s capital Palembang. It recently secured a permit from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to source 30 percent of its supply from PT Medco Energi Internasional. This move has increased its capacity by 30 percent to 5 mmscfd.
Previously an advertising company, MEP listed its shares at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2001, but then delisted in 2007. It then became a gas trader and distributor in 2008, and relisted its shares in 2015.
According to its financial statement, the company’s revenue dropped slightly by 8.4 percent to Rp 181.7 billion (US$13.66 million) in 2016 from a year earlier, but net profit rose by 10.4 percent to Rp 19.1 billion over the same
period.
However, in the first quarter of 2017, its revenue increased by 27.6 percent to Rp 59.31 billion, while net profit dropped by 16.48 percent to Rp 5.22 billion.
ShizGas chairman Seigo Iwasaki said that the firm was keen to invest in Indonesia as it saw an opportunity to transform the domestic energy regime.
“Just like in Japan, where we promote natural gas as a more efficient power source, we see in Indonesia a chance to further introduce natural gas-based power to replace other, less environmental-friendly sources, such as coal,” he said.
Established in 1910, Shizgas distributes approximately 1.2 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) each year in Japan.
With the acquisition of MEP, Indonesia is the second Southeast Asian country in which Shizgas has invested. In 2015, it teamed up with a Thai firm to construct a 350-megawatt power plant. (dea)
