Herman Deru Moves Quickly to Address Biosolar Queues in South Sumatra

South Sumatra Governor Herman Deru has moved quickly to respond to long queues for Biosolar in his region. He directly inspected six Public Fuel Filling Stations (SPBU) distributing Biosolar in Palembang, Banyuasin, and Ogan Ilir on Tuesday (14/7). Following the inspection, Herman Deru immediately instructed a number of strategic steps. These range from optimising SPBU operations to 24 hours, increasing supply, to regulating vehicle distribution to reduce congestion. The six SPBUs inspected included those on Jalan H.M. Noerdin Pandji, Bandara, Sukajadi (Banyuasin), Soekarno Hatta, Kol. H. Burlian Km 7, and Pegayut (Ogan Ilir). The inspection was conducted together with PT Pertamina Patra Niaga Regional Sumbagsel, the Downstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BPH Migas), police, and relevant regional agencies. This is part of a comprehensive evaluation of subsidised fuel distribution in South Sumatra. “Today we went directly to the field with Pertamina, BPH Migas, the police, and related agencies. I want to see the facts on the ground so that the solutions taken are truly based on real conditions,” said Herman Deru in a statement on Wednesday (15/7/2026). According to Herman Deru, based on coordination between the South Sumatra Provincial Government and BPH Migas, the Biosolar supply has been increased so that queues at several locations have begun to decrease. However, the government is still evaluating the entire service chain, from optimising SPBU operations to vehicle distribution patterns. The monitoring results showed that one refuelling of Biosolar worth around Rp 900,000 took an average of 8.5 minutes. To speed up service, Herman Deru proposed the use of longer nozzle hoses. “We propose that the nozzle hoses be made longer so they can reach vehicles from both sides. That way, the service process becomes more flexible and queues can be reduced,” he said. Based on his review, the most crucial congestion points are at access roads entering and leaving Palembang City, such as the Citra Grand City (CGC) area, Pegayut, and Kramasan. Meanwhile, in the Sekojo and Lemabang areas, queues occur due to the high volume of logistics vehicles heading to Boom Baru Port. “The problem is that SPBUs in the city centre have limited land capacity, while the vehicles coming are dominated by large vehicles. Therefore, vehicle distribution must be arranged so that queues are not concentrated in one location,” said Herman Deru. The South Sumatra Provincial Government, together with Pertamina and the police, agreed to optimise the operations of Biosolar dispensing SPBUs to a full 24 hours. SPBUs that previously stopped Biosolar services at night are now required to guarantee supply availability. In addition, Herman Deru requested the Palembang Police to prepare a Traffic Impact Analysis (Amdal Lalin) as a basis for regulating the operations of around 10 Biosolar SPBUs so as not to disrupt residents’ activities during school departure hours. The government will also regulate the flow of vehicle distribution to 10 other SPBUs to prevent accumulation in the Boom Port area which has limited land. “Later it will be optimised so that some Biosolar dispensing SPBUs can operate 24 hours without disrupting community activities, especially during school departure hours,” he explained. Besides operational engineering, Herman Deru instructed PT Pertamina Patra Niaga to increase the Biosolar supply to 164 SPBUs spread across South Sumatra. Pertamina was also asked to recalculate the Biosolar quota requirement because many vehicles from outside the region, such as Kalimantan, West Sumatra, and even North Sumatra, refuel in South Sumatra. “This means that the needs of vehicles from outside South Sumatra must also be taken into account in the distribution of fuel supplies. We have coordinated with BPH Migas so that downstream distribution can be increased as needed,” he said. On the other hand, he highlighted the increasing use of Biosolar by vehicles that are actually recommended to use non-subsidised fuel such as Dexlite or Pertamina Dex. He also appealed to the public not to engage in panic buying because the availability of fuel in South Sumatra is quite safe and sufficient. “We ask the public to be wise in using fuel according to their vehicle specifications. If your vehicle is not recommended to use Biosolar, please use the appropriate fuel. Let’s work together to ensure subsidies are right on target,” stressed Herman Deru.