Saturday June 14, 2008

Higher demand for natural gas

By SALINA KHALID

AS more and more motorists are switching to natural gas vehicle (NGV) to minimise the costs for fuel, the queues at Petronas stations are getting longer.

This is not surprising as NGV is only available at selected Petronas stations. more motorists have joined taxi drivers to wait in line to fill up natural gas the past few days.

Better alternative:Yap makes sure that he gets the tank refilled at least once a day since he is on the road most of the time.

The queues are much longer during lunch time and late evenings and the new batch of motorists using NGV have to learn to be patient as they wait their turn to fill up their cylinders.

With the recent hike in petrol and diesel, many are finding it hard to cope with the additional costs but perhaps not so for those vehicles are running on NGV.

“I have changed to NGV and in fact am really glad that I did it,” said K.Y Yap.

“Now most of my friends want to do the same especially after gaining valuable tips,” said Yap.

Yap, who stays in Kepong, changed his Proton Waja from using petrol to natural gas in January.

He said since the conversion, he managed to cut about half of his regular petrol expenses.

“Previously I spent between RM300 and RM400 every month for fuel.

“Now I only spend about RM150 per month,” he said.

With the NGV, it only costs him RM8.50 to cover a distance of 130km.

The only hassle for him was probably to get the tank refilled almost everyday since he is on the road most of the time.

And one of the biggest concerns about changing to natural gas is the lack of stations providing the service. But to Yap, this was not an issue.

“I am staying in the Klang Valley and there are a few stations here selling NGV.

“Besides, if I run out of gas, I can switch back to petrol,” he said.

Tee Ah Siow, who has converted all three of his family vehicles into NGV since about a year ago, has no regrets about it.

He said at an average it costs about RM6,000 to RM7,000 for the installation of the tank.

A little bit of waiting yet it goes a long way, that was what Mohd Fauzi Abdul Latif thinks about using the NGV.

Taxi driver Mohd Fauzi said he did not mind the waiting for fuelling at the station.

He said to avoid the long queue, he would make sure that he goes to the station during off peak hours.

He expressed hope that the government would encourage more NGV stations to be built in the country to accommodate the increasing demand for the service.

It is learnt that they are only about 150 stations in the country that provides the service, with mostly located in the Klang Valley.

The number is expected to increase to 200 by the end of the year.