Pertamina vows to resolve kerosene deficit in the markets
Pertamina vows to resolve kerosene deficit in the markets
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina plans to intensify market
operations as a temporary measure to help resolve kerosene
shortages faced by households in Jakarta and other cities.
Pertamina spokesman M. Harun said the company would cut
kerosene supplies to retailers and sell directly to household
consumers in areas hit by kerosene shortages.
"We will launch a select market operation, and are still
discussing the mechanism," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Harun said the kerosene shortage reemerged after the company
halted a program earlier this year that differentiated kerosene
for households -- which were tinted green -- from kerosene for
industrial use.
But he said the color-coding program costed the company around
Rp 12 billion (US$1.41 million) per year to tint the heavily
subsidized kerosene supply for households, particularly those in
the low-income bracket.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
previously said the shortages had occurred due to the disparity
between the price of household and industrial-use kerosene.
Household kerosene costs Rp 700 per liter, while unsubsidized
industrial-use kerosene costs between Rp 1,800 and Rp 2,200,
which has prompted retailers to sell kerosene to industries for a
higher profit.
M. Awi Adil, spokesman for Pertamina Marketing Unit III that
oversees Jakarta, West Java and Banten, said industry demand for
kerosene was lower than household demand.
Household demand for kerosene in the three provinces stands at
12,986 kiloliters (kl) per day, or 389,580 kl per month, while
industry demand is only around 25,000 kl a month, Awi said.
"We suspect that industries buy the subsidized fuel from the
black market," Awi told the Post.
He said the office was targeting their market operation in
areas experiencing a shortage based on reports from the public
and media.
"We have also set up a team to monitor kerosene supply in
areas far removed from Pertamina depots," Awi said.
According to a special government team tasked with monitoring
the abuse of subsidized fuel (TP3BBM), household consumption of
kerosene has gone over the set limit of 3.75 liters per month per
family.
In Jakarta alone, household kerosene consumption averages 10
liters monthly per family.
Slamet Singgih, head of the TP3BBM, said the Pertamina market
operation would not be effective in resolving the kerosene
shortage completely, as the sale of subsidized fuel to industries
would restart once the operation ended.
He said Pertamina should be more active in exposing the root
of the problem and in monitoring retailers.
The TP3BBM team has so far identified 63 violations by
retailers in distributing kerosene that have led to the shortage.
Slamet said Pertamina had penalized those retailers that
violated fuel distribution regulations, including cutting
retailers' kerosene quota to closing down retailers in the case
of severe violations.