Pertamina to raise fuel prices for industry by 16%
Pertamina to raise fuel prices for industry by 16%
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State oil and gas firm Pertamina will raise market fuel prices
for industry for the October delivery by up to 16 percent as
prices of refined products soar on concerns of supply shortages
in the U.S. after the damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and
Rita.
Premium gasoline in October will rise to above Rp 6,000 (about
60 U.S. cents) per liter from September's Rp 5,160 while diesel
fuel will rise to above Rp 5,700 from Rp 5,350, Pertamina's head
of fuel division Achmad Faisal said on Tuesday.
"I cannot announce the definite prices yet, as the board of
directors has not signed the decision yet," he said in a phone
interview. The new prices are likely to be applied this week, he
added.
Kerosene for industry will be sold for at least Rp 6,200 per
liter, fuel oil at Rp 3,500 a liter and diesel oil at Rp 5,500
per liter, said Faisal.
As of Oct. 1, the day the government raised retail fuel prices
by an average of 126.6 percent, no quota will be set aside for
industries, except for small enterprises and fishermen with boats
weighing less than 30 gross weight tons. Such small-scale
enterprises will get a monthly quota of subsidized fuel of eight
kiloliters (kl) each.
Pertamina began applying in July market prices for oil, gas,
mining and export-oriented industries, as well as entities that
use more than 500 kl of fuel. It included more industries,
including fishery companies, those located in bonded zones,
independent power producers and entities that use more than 24 kl
of fuel, in August.
Faisal further said that with the U.S. needing additional
supply due to some refineries still being closed after the
devastating hurricanes, fuel products prices might stay high next
month.
"Even if the price of crude oil falls, the price of products
will remain high," he said.
Pertamina is still looking for two cargoes of fuel products,
amounting to some one million barrels, to secure supply this
month.
Faisal said daily off-take in the days after the government
announced the fuel price hike was lower than the usual 180,000 kl
to 190,000 kl. On Sunday, the country consumed 67,000 kl and on
Monday 120,000 kl.
"It's probably because people are still using the fuel they
stored to anticipate the price hike," he said. "We will see what
happens over the next two weeks to determine whether we'll need
the two cargoes," he added.
Despite being an oil producer, Indonesia has to import 300,000
barrels of crude and 400,000 barrels of fuel products per day.
Pertamina has long-term deals with several producers to supply
some 60 percent of the fuel imports it needs every month.