New fuel prices to be announced soon: Purnomo

New fuel prices to be announced soon: Purnomo

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
said on Wednesday the new fuel prices for the month of May would
be announced "within the next few days".

He said the new fuel price list could not be published
immediately as expected due to "technical and non-technical"
reasons. He did not elaborate.

"We'll announce the new fuel price list soon," he told
reporters on the sidelines of a seminar.

State oil and gas company Pertamina did not publish the new
price list late Tuesday, as had been widely expected. The company
said the government had not given the go ahead.

Purnomo dismissed reports suggesting the delay was due to
massive rallies planned by labor groups for May Day.

According to Presidential Decree No. 9/2002, the legal basis
for the government in setting domestic fuel prices, Pertamina is
supposed to announce the monthly fuel price list on the first day
of each month.

But a source said the decree had been recently revised, to
allow Pertamina to make the announcement "in the early days" of
each month, instead of day one.

Since Jan. 16, the government has pegged most fuel products,
except kerosene for households and small businesses, to prices in
neighboring Singapore.

Fuel prices are expected to increase this month as oil prices
in the international market have been hovering at around US$26
per barrel during the past couple of weeks.

Purnomo said earlier the price of premium gasoline, for
instance, might rise to Rp 1,750 per liter, the ceiling price for
the commodity set under the above decree.

The price of premium gasoline is currently Rp 1,600 per liter.

Raising fuel prices remains a politically sensitive issue in
the country.