Kuala Lumpur: Global CNG Sdn Bhd, a company set up to develop young entrepreneurs in the oil and gas industry, is ready to roll out its proposed 600 compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations project once Petronas gives the green light. According to the company, funding has been taken care of and all that it needs now is the nod from Petronas for the project which it has been pushing since 2004.
"We are ready to take off. Global CNG has the means, the required finance, the know-how and the technology to implement the project quickly," president Abdul Halim Mohd Tahir told reporters at a media conference here Tuesday.
Among the issues being negotiated with Petronas is the product pricing, with Global CNG asking Petronas to sell CNG to the company at the same rate being sold to independent power producers, and also the right to use Petronas pipelines to transport and tap the gas, Abdul Halim said.
The company was also willing to take over Petronas Dagangan Bhd's NGV (natural gas vehicle) business currently under the retail engineering department.
Global CNG has been proposing to the government since 2004 to set up the stations - 300 in the first phase and another 300 in the second phase- within a five-year period as an answer for alternative fuel.
The first phase is estimated to cost up to RM1 billion, with investment for one station expected to be around RM3 million.
Abdul Halim said the government was in favour of the project but the company was told to negotiate with Petronas in terms of the resources.
On the recent statement by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad in acknowledging the need for Petronas to build CNG stations around the country by year-end, he said the issue was not whether the stations are built by Petronas or some other parties.
"What matters is the rakyat will benefit. Global CNG feels this project has become a necessity and the right thing to do," Abdul Halim said.
"This project will facilitate the inevitable mass migration of the energy consumption from petrol and diesel to CNG due to the drastic increase in crude oil prices and also our concern for a cleaner environment," he said, adding that government will also be able to save billions of ringgit in fuel subsidies.
Shahrir on March 24 told a local daily that the government's plan was to have 200 CNG stations this year, and Petronas has not been delivering this.
Under Global CNG's proposed project, the first phase will see the setting up of 300 CNG stations along the highways to include their exit towns and small towns that are about 60 kilometres apart within two years, while the second phase will involve another 300 CNG stations. The CNG facilities are to be set up at existing stations nationwide as well as at new stations.
"At the same time, the government will make an effort to systematically convert the engines of all public transportations, trucks, government vehicles and private-owned vehicles into NGVs by creating a well-spread 300 conversion centres over the next five years," Abdul Halim said.
"Global CNG proposes that the government absorbs the conversion cost for vehicles that are less than 1500cc," he said, adding that the conversion cost for one unit is estimated at RM3,000, but this will be translated to savings in subsidies.
Once implemented, this is expected to provide a 50 percent saving in fuel costs to consumers, while more than RM3 billion worth of subsidises is projected to be automatically withdrawn at the end of 2015 when over one million vehicles are converted to NGVs. - Bernama
