Fuel prices hike doesn't cause lower fuel usage<\/p>\n
Tantri Yuliandini and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The rising price of gas has not stopped families like the
\nSutanto's from maintaining their two-car, 200-liter-a-week
\nlifestyle. On the contrary they're quite happy to dish out more
\nthan Rp 450,000 (about US$48) a month on fuel.<\/p>\n
\"Because we need them (the cars), and to take the children to
\nschool. The price of fuel is just something we have to put up
\nwith,\" Sutanto, 39, said.<\/p>\n
Little does he, and others like him, realize that in just a
\nfew short years he will have to dig much deeper into his wallet
\nto preserve the privileged lifestyle he now enjoys.<\/p>\n
Analysts have repeatedly warned that the world's oil reserves
\nare depleting at an alarming rate. Hunter Herron of the Petroleum
\nEquities Inc., said that 90 percent of the oil produced today
\ncomes from fields more than 20 years old.<\/p>\n
At the same time, despite advances in technology, discovery
\nrates for new oil reserves are falling. \"For every four barrels
\nused today, only one new barrel is found,\" Herron said.<\/p>\n
Separately, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
\nreported that about 75 percent of Indonesia's energy still comes
\nfrom oil, with domestic consumption rising at an average of 6
\npercent annually. Meanwhile, production has been steadily
\ndeclining by an average of 2.8 percent per year since 1996.<\/p>\n
The result of the rising demand and falling production is
\nincreasing imports, which the government will have to pay for.<\/p>\n
Between 1996 and 2000 alone, imports increased by a staggering
\n71 percent. In 2000, fuel product imports grew to 90 million
\nbarrels at a cost of US$3 billion, up sharply from the 79.9
\nmillion barrels the previous year.<\/p>\n
\"People should remember that oil reserves are finite and we
\ncould turn out to be a net oil importer if we don't start to
\nconserve,\" Director General of Land Transportation Iskandar
\nAbdullah said over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Any sense of crisis is clearly absent today as Indonesians
\nhave been lulled into a false sense of security for too long by
\ncheap, subsidized fuel.<\/p>\n
Recent efforts to reduce subsidies by increasing fuel prices
\nand gradually bringing them up to international market levels are
\nbased on the argument that subsidized fuel largely benefits the
\nmiddle and upper income groups.<\/p>\n
Something that is the exact opposite of the original aim of
\nthe subsidies, which was to ease the burden on the poor.<\/p>\n
Iskandar acknowledged that significant price hikes should be a
\nmajor factor in promoting public awareness of fuel conservation
\nand encouraging people to look for alternative energy sources.<\/p>\n
\"The ongoing fuel price increases should provide an
\nopportunity for the government to promote energy conservation and
\nfor people to change their lifestyles,\" Iskandar said.<\/p>\n
So far, government campaigns on the effective use of energy
\nhave merely been intended to counter widespread public rejection
\nof fuel and electricity hikes rather than to promote
\nconservation.<\/p>\n
And the government's fuel conservation strategy has mostly
\nbeen aimed at getting people to look for alternative sources of
\nenergy instead of reducing consumption.<\/p>\n
Providing alternative fuel sources would be one way of
\nencouraging conservation provided the government was wholehearted
\nabout doing so.<\/p>\n
The introduction of car-gas (compressed natural gas) as an
\nenvironmentally friendly alternative to gasoline in the 1990s
\nbarely got off the ground because of a lack of such commitment.<\/p>\n
One problem is state-owned fuel monopoly Pertamina's refusal
\nto set up more car-gas stations other than the 17 stations
\ncurrently in operation around Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Since they were first opened (the car-gas stations), only 38
\npercent of them have been effectively used as not many people
\nlike to use car-gas. That is why Pertamina has refused to set up
\nmore car-gas stations around the capital,\" Iskandar said.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, a former car-gas user, Bartha, said that he
\nhad decided to give up on car-gas as there were simply not enough
\ncar-gas stations around.<\/p>\n
\"For one thing, it's hard enough to find car-gas stations in
\nJakarta. It's well-nigh impossible to find them outside of
\nJakarta,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Besides being environmentally friendly, car-gas is also much
\ncheaper, selling at Rp 450 per liter compared to Rp 1,750 per
\nliter for premium gasoline.<\/p>\n
Just as Singapore has found a way to raise conservation
\nawareness by declaring a car-free day on Earth Day every April
\n22, the Indonesian government should also develop its own
\nmeasures to raise such awareness.<\/p>\n
As long as it fails to do so, people like Sutanto will
\ncontinue their extravagant lifestyles, disregarding the fact that
\nfossil fuels will eventually run out.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe one day we'll think about other alternatives than
\ngasoline, but for now I still don't see any urgency.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Oil Reserves 1991-2000<\/p>\n
(billion barrels)<\/p>\n
-----------------------------------------------------------------
\nYEAR 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
\n------------------------------------------------------------------
\nTOTAL 11 11.3 10.4 9.5 9.1 9 9.1 9.7 9.8 9.6
\n-------------------------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n
* Data published by Pertamina<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fuel-prices-hike-doesnt-cause-lower-fuel-usage-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }