Does PGN’s Gas Consumption Increase Mean the Economy Has Recovered?

PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk (PGN) stated that gas consumption began to increase gradually. PGN’s Commercial Director, Faris Aziz, revealed that the increase started in May 2020. “The Indonesian economy will move up since the demand has been increasing since May. In July, it went up to 5.8 percent month-over-month,” he explained in a virtual discussion last weekend.

The government’s decision to lower the ceiling price for the electricity sector and several other industries to US$ 6 per MMBtu also contributed to the increase. There were up to 188 companies that might benefit from the incentive based on the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministerial Regulation No. 8/2020. However, five of them could not maximize it since they still had not resumed their operations yet.

Faris said that PGN was ready to distribute the gas to the electricity sector and some other industries. “The five companies still shut down their operations; it’s not that we did not distribute the gas to them. It was maybe because of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the gas distribution to customers [industrial gas prices] is already 100 percent,“ he said.