Pertamina has 'no plan' to jack up lubricant prices

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina assured the public yesterday that it had no plan to increase lubricant prices and supply was plentiful here and nationwide.

"The public need not worry. We have enough supplies of lubricants and there is, thus far, no plan to raise prices," Pertamina's spokesman Ramli Djaafar said.

He made the remark following reports about shortages of lubricants at gas stations across Jakarta and its surroundings over the past several days.

Some gas stations have even reportedly raised the prices of lubricants.

Ramli said Pertamina was currently checking out which areas were experiencing shortages so supplies of lubricants could be dispatched in order to meet demand.

He said the shortage had occurred because some people had bought up large amounts of lubricant and hoped to profit from it following rumors that Pertamina did not have enough lubricants and would soon raise prices.

He called on all gas stations not to lift prices, warning that Pertamina would take punitive measures against those who disobeyed the instruction.

He also called on stations not to sell lubricants in large amounts to individual buyers in order to prevent stockpiling activities which could imperil the supply-demand balance.

"We only supply a large amount of lubricants to industries not to motorists who only need a small amount."

He said Pertamina would report individuals caught buying up large amount of lubricants.

"We'll let the police take action against them."

Pertamina imports about 5 percent of its lubricants and produces the remaining 95 percent.

Company data reveals that it supplied 376,677 kiloliters of lubricants in the 1996/1997 fiscal year, a 7.2 percent increase to the previous year's supply.

The company projects demand will increase 5.2 percent to 390,346 kiloliters in the 1998/1999 fiscal year.

Based on The Jakarta Post observations, in several gas stations along Jl. Margonda and Jl. Lenteng Agung in South Jakarta; Jl. Dewi Sartika, Jl. Otto Iskandar Dinata, Jl. Pramuka and Jl. Pemuda in East Jakarta there were no stocks of Mesran Super, Mesran Prima or 2T lubricants.

Supriyadi, a worker at Pramuka gas station, said lubricants had been scarce since the end of last month.

"At that time we sold Mesran Super at Rp 5,700 (50 U.S. cents) for a one liter can. But now the market price is set between Rp 7,500 and Rp 11,000," he said.

A Depok customer complained that he had to drive around to find lubricants.

"Imagine, I've searched around Depok to find it. I even drove around Margonda and Lenteng Agung. Eventually I found it in Pasar Minggu, where I had to pay Rp 11,500 for one can," he said.

And the prices of spare parts have also risen substantially.

Ito, a motorcycle mechanic at Ciputat, said an IRC motorcycle tire which used to cost Rp 20,000 now sells for Rp 33,000.

The price of NGK motorcycle sparkplugs has risen from Rp 2,400 to Rp 5,000 and Champion sparkplugs from Rp 2,400 to Rp 3,000. (jsk/edt)