Pertamina to produce environmentally friendly diesel

State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina will begin marketing this month a more environmentally friendly diesel fuel called Pertamina DEX.

"The fuel is designed for newly produced cars that already carry the Euro 2 emission specification," Pertamina spokesman Adiatma Sardjito was quoted as saying by Antara on Monday.

The Euro 2 is an emission standard for cars introduced in Europe in 1995. The standard limits car emissions to 7 grams per kilowatt-hour (g/kWh) of Nitrous Oxide (NOX) and 0.15 g/kWh of PM (Particle Matter). The Euro 2 standard was replaced by Euro 3 in 1999. At present, Europe has applied the Euro 5 specification.

Adiatma explained that new luxurious diesel cars required fuel of a certain cetane number -- a measure of the fuel's combustion quality -- to result in less-polluted emission.

"The cetane number of the DEX will be 53, higher than the existing diesel fuel's 48. As for the sulfur content of the DEX, it is only 300 ppm (parts per million), compared to our diesel fuel of 5,000 ppm," he said.

In the first phase, Pertamina will only supply nine gas stations aiming for 4,000 cars per day. No details were available on the location of the gas stations.

"The target market is still limited and therefore the price is quite high," Adiatma said. "It's more expensive than the regular diesel fuel as it is nonsubsidized."

He added that the DEX was being produced at the Balongan refinery in West Java and being tested on a number of vehicles. -- Antara