The pump price of natural gas will stay the same.
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This is the assurance given by Petronas chairman Tan Sri Hassan Marican. He siad that the price would remain although demand was expected to rise as more motorists turn to natural gas in view of the fuel price increase. Hassan said Petronas would, however, increase the number of stations selling natural gas. Fifty-nine stations would be added to the existing 90 this year, and by 2010, there should be 200 stations nationwide selling natural gas.
“This is our commitment to the environment.” Hassan said Petronas was subsidising natural gas directly and heavily. For every litre sold at 68 sen, the national oil company shells out about RM2. Since 1997, it has coughed up some RM450 million to keep the price of gas low for the 33,058 natural gas-powered vehicles in the country, most of which are taxis.
“We are leaving the gas pump price at 68 sen. Our subsidies will go up and up.” He revealed that Petronas was actually allowed to sell gas at half the price of petrol. “(But) We did not increase the price, even after the 2006 petrol price hike.
“People say Petronas has not done anything for them, but this is one of the things we have done. This subsidy is above all the taxes and royalties Petronas pays. There is no rebate and exemption for it.
“You can add this on as a contribution above all that. If we did not subsidise, it might have to come out of the government’s coffers.” Only Petronas has natural gas stations in Malaysia, leading to a popular assumption that it has a monopoly on the sale of gas. The first natural gas pilot project was in Terengganu in 1986. Commercial sales began in 1993. “The main thrust of introducing NGV, not only in Malaysia, but all over the world, was to address environmental concerns,” he said, adding that natural gas, which contains no particulates, is a cleaner alternative to petrol.
Asked why other oil companies were not selling it at their stations, Hassan said it was because they could not turn a profit doing so. “Because of the subsidy, it doesn’t interest other oil companies. It is a loss-suffering business.”
He also scathingly questioned why other companies were not selling natural gas as part of their environmental responsibility when they are allowed to do so freely!
On why there were not enough stations selling natural gas, Hassan said Petronas faced many obstacles, including land acquisition and local authority policies. Logistics is also an important factor, as NGV stations need to be close to a gas pipeline. However, 15 stations in the country get their supply through trucks with compression tanks.
“This is not only costly, but also dangerous.” The power consumption of a natural gas station, said Hassan, was also high - at triple or quadruple that of a regular petrol kiosk. “The electricity bill of a typical Petronas station is RM5,000 compared with RM16,000 for a station selling natural gas.”
Source: NST
