ReforMiner Institute: Public Must Be Educated on Fuel Reserves

Jakarta — Komaidi Notonegoro, Executive Director of ReforMiner Institute, has stated that the public needs to be educated about fuel reserves, particularly regarding Indonesia’s 20-day operational storage capacity, which relates to the nation’s fuel storage capability.

He clarified that Indonesia’s 20-day operational fuel stock does not indicate that fuel reserves will be exhausted thereafter. “After 20 days, the storage can be replenished. So this is actually a satisfactory situation,” Komaidi said in a statement in Jakarta on Friday.

Komaidi compared Indonesia’s fuel storage with Southeast Asian counterparts. Vietnam has only 15 days of storage, Laos has 10 days, while Australia has 50 days of fuel reserves. By contrast, Japan maintains fuel availability for 254 days because, historically, Japan is not an oil-producing nation and therefore requires significantly larger fuel storage capacity.

“Let us communicate to the public so there is no need for concern that fuel stocks will run out during Eid al-Fitr,” Komaidi said.

The clarification comes after Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia’s statement regarding Indonesia’s 20-day fuel security sparked public anxiety and panic. This contrasts sharply with Japan, which maintains 254 days of fuel reserves yet coordinated responses following the Iran-US-Israel tensions.

Komaidi has recommended that the government and Pertamina increase the national fuel storage capacity for crude oil and refined petroleum products. Currently, he noted, the average national storage capacity is sufficient for only 14 to 30 days. “Indonesia should at least match Australia’s 50-day reserve,” he said.

Regarding current Middle Eastern tensions, Komaidi hopes the government will redirect fuel imports away from the Strait of Hormuz. Many fuel-supplying nations remain uninvolved in the conflict, though rerouting imports would increase operational costs.

“The government only needs to increase its import costs so that our fuel supply remains unaffected by the Iran-Israel-US conflict,” he said.