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He said the new fuel price list could not be published immediately as expected due to "technical and non-technical" reasons.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