Pertamina runs out of gas in unleaded fuel campaign
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)