Pertamina says gas supply to return to normal today<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The capital was hit by a scarcity of gasoline on
\nTuesday but state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina gave
\nassurances that the supply would return to normal beginning
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
Several big cities in Java, such as Semarang and Tangerang,
\nalso faced the same problems, which have been in evidence for a
\ncouple of days.<\/p>\n
Dozens of gas stations in Jakarta and Tangerang were crowded
\non Tuesday as motorists flocked there, looking for gasoline.<\/p>\n
The queues of cars, motorcycles and trucks at the gas stations
\nin the city lasted from morning until late evening. Most of the
\ngas stations already had a notice displayed at the entrance that
\nread: \"Sorry, Premium out of stock.\"<\/p>\n
Premium or leaded fuel is the principal form of gasoline used
\nin the country.<\/p>\n
Due to the lack of the fuel, many motorists finally decided to
\nfill their cars and motorcycles with premix (unleaded gas), which
\nis Rp 1,500 per liter, or Rp 500 higher than premium. The sudden
\nhigh demand led several other stations to run out of premix in
\njust a few hours.<\/p>\n
Many motorists had to struggle for hours, either by waiting in
\nthe lines or by hunting for gas stations where there were no
\nlines.<\/p>\n
A motorist, who could no longer stand waiting in the queue at
\na gas station near the busy Glodok shopping center, finally
\ndecided to try his luck elsewhere.<\/p>\n
He then sped off to various other gas stations, including Jl.
\nTanah Abang, only to be confronted by the same unpleasant
\nprospects.<\/p>\n
\"I have already visited three other places but I haven't
\nmanaged to buy even a liter as the queues are too long. By the
\ntime I get to the pumps, they'll probably already be empty.<\/p>\n
You see, I've already finished my shift at work and I should
\nhave been replaced by a friend. The problem is that this car (of
\nmy firm) badly needs petrol,\" the motorist said.<\/p>\n
The lines of vehicles at certain gas stations caused traffic
\ncongestion such as those on Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Lapangan Roos, Jl.
\nGatot Subroto, and Jl. Kwitang Raya.<\/p>\n
According to staff and owners of the gas stations, the problem
\ncenters on Pertamina's failure to provide adequate supplies of
\ngasoline.<\/p>\n
\"Usually we get three trucks, but I haven't seen even one
\ntruck so far today,\" said Andry, a gas station owner in Kwitang,
\nCentral Jakarta, said.<\/p>\n
A fellow businessman, who runs a gas station on Jl. Daan Mogot
\nin West Jakarta said in the afternoon that his stock of 7
\nkiloliters of gasoline would only last until 10 p.m. under normal
\ncircumstances.<\/p>\n
\"We have actually ordered 48 kiloliters (from Pertamina), but
\nwe have no idea when this will arrive,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Some gas stations received fresh supplies from Pertamina later
\nin the evening.<\/p>\n
Darwin Tampubolon, manager of a gas station on Jl. Kebayoran
\nLama, South Jakarta, said that he had been out of leaded gas for
\nmore than 13 hours.<\/p>\n
\"We have been out of stock since 1 p.m. on Monday, and we
\nreceived fresh supplies from Plumpang (the Pertamina depot) only
\nat 2 a.m. today,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A gas station near Tebet on Jl. Gatot Subroto went so far as
\nto prohibit customers from purchasing more than 15 liters per
\nvehicle.<\/p>\n
\"It's in order to ensure fair distribution due to the shortage
\nof supplies,\" said Bambang, the manager of the gas station.<\/p>\n
Jakarta is home to some 2 million cars and 373 gas stations.<\/p>\n
In Tangerang, Syahrudin, a public minivan driver, said he and
\nhis fellow drivers were really upset with the situation as their
\nincomes have been seriously affected.<\/p>\n
\"Usually, we would have already made three runs by this time,
\nbut we have only managed one so far, he said midday.<\/p>\n
In Semarang, several gas stations in Grobogan regency even
\nrefused to serve retailers, who were thronging them all day.<\/p>\n
As a result, some retailers raised their prices to Rp 1,400
\nper liter.<\/p>\n
At a press briefing late on Tuesday, Pertamina officials
\nblamed the problem on repairs at its Balongan refinery in West
\nJava together with an international shortage of High Octane Mogas
\nComponent (HOMG).<\/p>\n
Arifin Nawawi, head of Pertamina's refining division, and Tuty
\nAnggraini, head of fuel supplies for West Java and Jakarta, said
\n80 percent of the total demand in Jakarta was supplied by
\nBalongan, which has been out of operation since last June 20 due
\nto damage in its main blower.<\/p>\n
As a result of this, Tuty said, it has proved impossible to
\nsupply Jakarta by pipeline, with the capital now being supplied
\nby tanker ship, which involves a 20-hour trip from Balongan.<\/p>\n
Nawawi added that the Alamahdi refinery in Kuwait, a main
\nsource of HOMC, blew up recently, causing a major scarcity of
\nHOMC all over the world.<\/p>\n
Separately, House Speaker Akbar Tandjung called on the
\ngovernment to take concrete measures to cope with the fuel
\nscarcity, saying that the crisis could worsen political
\ninstability prior to next month's Annual Session of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR).<\/p>\n
\"The fuel crisis could spark a new wave of mass demonstrations
\nand set a bad precedent prior to the Session,\" he said here on
\nTuesday. (asa\/bsr\/25\/44\/41\/har\/edt\/rms)<\/p>",
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