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PGN says acquisition of Pertagas initial step toward holding firm
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Two workers of state-owned gas company Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) check pipelines conveying gas to power generator PT Indonesia Power at a gas meter station in Tambak Lorok, Semarang, Central Java. (JP/Suherdjoko)
T
he planned acquisition of state-owned energy firm Pertamina subsidiary PT Pertagas by state-owned gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) will be an initial step toward the establishment of an oil and gas holding, PGN corporate secretary Rachmat Hutama said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
According to a plan devised by the State-owned Enterprises Ministry, the state will transfer its stake in PGN to Pertamina, after 100 percent of Pertagas’ shares are acquired by PGN.
Rahmat said his company would acquire Pertagas before it joined Pertamina to establish an oil and gas holding company. “PGN will acquire Pertagas, and then PGN will become a subsidiary of Pertamina [in the holding firm],” Rachmat said, as reported by tribunnews.com.
Read also: Indonesia pushes for establishment of oil and gas holding company
He said PGN supported the government’s plan to establish an oil and gas holding, because it was part of the efforts to improve the management of the country’s oil and gas industry.
“Establishing the holding will accelerate the construction of gas infrastructure and help expand gas distribution,” he said.
Meanwhile, public policy expert and oil and gas industry observer Agus Pambagio disagreed with the government’s plan, saying the government only needed to assign Pertamina to concentrate on the upstream oil and gas businesses and PGN to concentrate on the downstream gas business.
He said PGN, as a public company, was already managed transparently, as its shares were owned by many people. He said the holding plan had pushed down the price of PGN shares. (bbn)
