Pertamina runs out of gas in unleaded fuel campaign
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government campaign for the use of unleaded gasoline nationwide is facing a major obstacle as state oil and gas company Pertamina says the program targets are currently beyond its capacity.
Pertamina marketing director Ari Soemarno admitted on Monday that the company would be unable to provide unleaded gasoline nationwide by the end of this year due to operational, procurement and funding constraints.
"It will be difficult to accomplish, although we are ready if the government agrees and is committed to helping us," Soemarno told The Jakarta Post.
He said that to meet the target, an additional US$4 trillion to $5 trillion in government subsidies would be needed given the current oil price of between $58 and $59 per barrel on the world market.
The program was initiated by the government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri in 2003. However, the company experienced problems in modifying its oil refineries in Balongan, West Java, and Cilacap, Central Java, to increase the production of unleaded gas. As a result, the fuel is currently only available in Greater Jakarta, Cirebon, Bali and Batam Island, accounting for about 25 percent of the country's gasoline demand.
State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar announced on Sunday a plan to revive the program to ensure the use of unleaded gasoline across the nation by the end of this year and called for all the stakeholders, particularly Pertamina, to get involved.
Separately, Pertamina spokesman Muhammad Harun said the company would only be able to supply unleaded gasoline throughout Java by August or September, given the company's existing capacity.
He said that the additional demand would be met by the Balongan refinery.
"We can assure you that Pertamina will be able to supply unleaded gasoline to all of Java by the end of this year. We will probably even be able to accomplish this by August or September," he said.
He said that Pertamina had been providing unleaded gasoline to Greater Jakarta and Cirebon in West Java, while the demand for unleaded gasoline in Bali and Papua had already been met.
Harun said that the company had so far been trying to gradually decrease the lead content in its gasoline.
"The lead component has now been decreased to 0.07 cc/us gallon for Premium and will eventually be reduced to O cc/us gallon," he said.
According to Pertamina, national consumption per day of Premium gasoline amounts to 42,000 kiloliters (kl), whereas consumption in Java amounts to 25,000 kl a day.
"In Jakarta, consumption reaches 9,000 kl per day, or about 20 percent of national consumption," he said, adding that if Pertamina could meet the demand for unleaded gasoline in Java alone, that would mean that more than 50 percent of the country would already be lead free. (004)