Indonesia plans to shift the usage of oil and gas by at least 10 percent within the next four years, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Monday.

The Minister said that the biofuel would be made from casava, sugar cane, palm and castor.

"The government has targeted that in 2010 the biofuel will replace at least 10 percent of gas and oil in Indonesia," he said.

To meet the goal, the minister said that the government planned to provide 6 million hectares of land.

"Now, 5 million hectares has been available from idle land," said Purnomo.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would issue a decree on the establishment of a national team to control and make a blue print of the government policy on the biofuel energy.

He said that the state oil and gas company Pertamina and the state owned electricity company PLN would take part in the domestic marketing.

Indonesia, the only Asian member of the Association of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has an oil production capacity of about 1 million barrel per day, but the production has gradually slowed down due to the aging of several wells and the exploration has yet found new oil source.

Source: Xinhua