The majority of the Dominican industries have begun a change-over process that will permit them to use natural gas (NG) in their production processes, due to the fact that it is considered to be the cheapest fuel in the world, plus the fact that it is used in vehicles in Europe and Latin America.

The Lama Group has invested around US$20 million in a facility it has built in Boca Chica, next to AES Andres, that will allow it to compress NG for easier transport to stations and industries that will be using the fuel.

The vice-president of ‘Soluciones en Gas Natural’ (Natural Gas Solutions), a part of the Lama Group, Pedro Juan Lama Hache, reported that at the present time they have some large-scale clients that use NG, such as Luz y Fuerza, the electricity producer in Samana, and the Lacteos Dominicana (Ladom) company. They also have ‘Multiquimica Dominicana’, ‘Cesar Iglesias’, and several other major industries in their client list.

Lama Hache, who visited with the director of Diario Libre, Adriano Miguel Tejada, insisted on the fact that natural gas is the cheapest fuel around and each day it is being used more and more. He cited the fact that in Colombia, as well as in Argentina, nearly all the "public" cars use natural gas. In Argentina there are 1,680,000 vehicles using natural gas, including 95% of the taxi drivers and there are 1,700 filling stations, and in Brazil, an ethanol producing country there are 1.6 million vehicles using natural gas.

Besides the environmental benefits, the use of this fuel has economic benefits for its users, since its more efficient combustion keeps the engine cleaner, the trips are longer, less fuel is used, and it is 60% less expensive than gasoline, 50% cheaper than diesel and 30% less costly than LPG.

Lama Hache believes that if all of the countries in Latin American and Europe are switching to natural gas, it makes sense for the Dominican Republic to follow along, as a way to save money. This is why they invested in a compressor station in Boca Chica.

The station compresses natural gas and sends it to stations or the industries that are clients.

Lama Group has a strategic alliance with Isla, a traditional gasoline and diesel provider, to use 10 stations for the sale of natural gas, but there are issues with the permits from the Ministry of the Environment. This has not allowed them to begin sales to the public. So far, only one station on Maximo Gomez Ave. is selling natural gas for vehicles, and another is due to open on John F. Kennedy.

Lama Hache said that they are working on a plan that will allow them to offer clients a kit for vehicles at no cost. The clients will pay a little more for the fuel, but will be paying off the cost of the conversion kit. The kit costs about the same as one used to convert to LPG, but the savings with natural gas is twice a large. This conversion program is scheduled to begin in three weeks, in May, if all goes as planned, but the price of the fuel does not depend on the Lama Group but on the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.