Myanmar saves $8 million by substituting fuel with gas monthly

YANGON, Nov. 13 (Chinese media) -- Myanmar has saved nearly 8 million U.S. dollars per month by substituting imported fuel with domestically-produced natural gas in operating motor vehicles, the local 7-Day News reported Thursday.

It was able to cut import of 2.26 million gallons of diesel and999,620 gallons of petrol monthly, the report said, quoting the disclosure of a recent paper reading session dealing with traffic rule education.

According to official statistics published in October, there was a total of 22,821 petrol- or diesel-run motor vehicles so far converted into compressed-natural-gas (CNG)-operated ones as part of the country's effort to save fuel and reduce import of crude oil.

Of the CNG-converted motor vehicles, passenger buses accounted for the majority, followed by school buses and taxis. Others went to trucks, departmental cars and private ones.

Myanmar has worked to ultimately change all motor vehicles in the country into CNG-operated's starting from bus and truck down to private-owned saloon car under a plan to modify all vehicles gradually in the country in terms of fuel operation.

To facilitate the conversion, Myanmar has allowed over a dozen private industries to carry out the undertakings on buses, trucks, taxis and saloons in addition to the Ministry of Energy.

Myanmar began the move amid sustained rise of crude oil prices in the world and the plan was introduced due partly to the abundance of natural gas in the country.

The country encourages import of CNG-run cars rather than petrol- or diesel-consumed ones.

According to the State Customs Department, Myanmar imported 374.06 million dollars' fuel in the fiscal year 2007-08 which ended in March.

The fuel imports accounted for 13.2 percent of the total imports of 2.818 billion dollars, the department's figures show.

Other official statistics also indicate that Myanmar produced 7.62 million barrels of crude oil and 13.393 billion cubic-meters of natural gas in 2007-08.

Natural gas topped Myanmar's exports in the year with 2.594 billion dollars representing 42.9 percent of the total exports during the year.