By PRIME SARMIENTO in Hong Kong and LEONARDUS JEGHO in Jakarta |
CHINA DAILY |
Workers unload frozen fish at Juwana fishing port, as rising diesel prices leave many fishing boats docked, in Pati, Central Java Province, Indonesia, on May 8. WILLY KURNIAWAN/REUTERS
As the Middle East crisis rattles global fuel markets, Indonesia needs to pull in more investments and technology transfers to accelerate a coal gasification program that can shield its economy from the import costs of volatile liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, analysts said.
Indonesia is a net exporter of coal and one of Asia's largest coal consumers. Its vast coal resources enable it to produce higher-value products like dimethyl ether, or DME — a colorless gas synthesized from coal-derived methanol that can be used as an alternative to LPG, a widely used cooking fuel.
