Pertamina to help clean air drive
Pertamina to help clean air drive
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State oil and gas company Pertamina is determined to help the
government's campaign for clean air succeed by importing unleaded
gasoline to meet nationwide demand, an official said on Thursday.
"Technically, it is unrealistic to supply nationwide demand
for unleaded gasoline by 2003," Pertamina spokesperson, Ridwan
Nyak Baik told The Jakarta Post.
"But as we fully support the campaign to phase out the use of
leaded gasoline at all costs, we will import the unleaded
gasoline if we have to," he said.
The government is phasing out leaded gasoline by 2003, as
stipulated in the Ministry of Mines and Energy Law No. 1585/1999,
which states that all fuel is to be lead-free by 2003.
Unleaded gasoline has been available in Greater Jakarta since
July 1, with the distribution of Premium TT and Premix TT
unleaded fuel in addition to Super TT.
The lead, which was previously added to gasoline to increase
its octane level and thereby boost engine performance, is
replaced with a high octane mogas component. The lead added to
fuel causes air pollution.
The lead pollution emitted by vehicles has become of great
concern because of its hazardous effects on human health,
especially among children.
Ridwan said Pertamina had tried to improve its refineries to
enable it to produce unleaded gasoline, but the lack of funds and
the limitations of its refineries still posed major obstacles.
Ridwan admitted that, even for ordinary fuel, Pertamina,
through its seven refineries, could only supply 80 percent of the
total national demand of about 10 million kiloliters per year.
The company currently produces unleaded gasoline only from its
Balongan refinery in West Java. The refinery can only supply
unleaded gasoline for daily consumption of about 8,000 kiloliters
in the capital.
Pertamina plans to modify its Cilacap refinery so as to
increase production of unleaded gasoline.
Modifying the refinery, which will take 24 to 32 months, is
projected to cost nearly US$230 million.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Safrudin, the chief executive of the Joint
Committee for Leaded Gasoline Phase Out (KPBB), said that
Pertamina should have been able to meet the scheduled lead phase
out if it had started to modify its refineries in 1999.
"Pertamina should have taken the initiative to modify its
refineries when the Ministry of Mines and Energy issued the
ordinance for lead phase out in 1999," Ahmad said on the
sidelines of a seminar on vehicle emission reduction on
Wednesday.
Ahmad said that arguing Pertamina lacked the funds needed to
finance the modification of its refineries was just an excuse as,
according to the Supreme Audit Agency, Pertamina posted a
windfall profit of about Rp 12 trillion in December 2000.
"With such an amount of profit, Pertamina surely has the money
to modify the refineries," Ahmad said.