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.