Pertamina denies fuel smuggling
Pertamina denies fuel smuggling
Amid recent reports of rampant smuggling on the Timor Leste and
Indonesian border, state oil and gas company PT Pertamina has
denied responsibility for the practice. Following is an excerpt
of an interview with the head of Pertamina's Kupang operations,
Adi Nugroho.
Question (Q): Who should be held responsible for the rampant
smuggling?
Answer (A): Smuggling is categorized as a criminal act. The case
should be handled by the police and the military, not by
Pertamina.
Q: We have information indicating that the fuel quota for East
Nusa Tenggara province this year is bigger than it was last year,
and that part of the fuel has been smuggled out to Timor Leste.
A: That information is incorrect.
Q: But we have data stating that last year, East Nusa Tenggara's
quota for Premium was 100,295 kiloliters, diesel fuel 177,242
kiloliters and kerosene 105,060 kiloliters. This year, the quote
was increased to 117,067 kiloliters for Premium and 186,187 for
diesel fuel, but the kerosene quota was reduced to 89,662
kiloliters. It makes no sense that there is a fuel scarcity in
East Nusa Tenggara because the quota has been increased this
year. It is possible that some of the fuel was smuggled out to
Timor Leste at the expense of East Nusa Tenggara residents.
A: The information on the fuel quota may have come from the East
Nusa Tenggara governor. The truth is that the quota for Premium
last year was higher than this year, namely 124,981 kiloliters.
Similarly, the Premium and diesel fuel quotas for last year were
higher than for this year. Regarding information that the fuel
quota for Timor Leste was reduced, that I don't know about. To
date, the party that supplies fuel to Timor Leste is Pertamina's
depot in Atambua, West Timor regency, and they only supply
Premium. We also noticed that between January and July 2005, the
Pertamina depot in Atapupu, Belu regency, also exported 700
kiloliters of Premium in total to Timor Leste. All of that was
used to meet demand by United Nations workers.
Q: Besides the Pertamina depot in Atambua and Atapupu, do any
other Pertamina depots supply fuel to Timor Leste?
A: A Pertamina depot in Surabaya, East Java, has also supplied
fuel to Timor Leste, but always based on memorandums of
understanding between Pertamina and Timor Leste officials.
Q: What do you think is the main cause behind the widespread fuel
shortage in East Nusa Tenggara? Is fuel smuggling the cause?
A: No comment. However, we suspect the fuel shortage is due to
the increasing number of motorcycles and cars. While the number
of cars and motorcycles is on the rise, the fuel quotas for the
province are not and have even decreased, leading to fuel
scarcities. We also suspect that some traders hoard fuel to sell
when prices go up.