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.