Shell Petrol Stations Source Diesel from Pertamina, ESDM Assures bp and Vivo Will Follow

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), through Director General of Oil and Gas, Laode Sulaeman, stated that the diesel now being sold again at Shell petrol stations is purchased from Pertamina. “This is a collaboration with Pertamina that we initiated and facilitated yesterday,” Laode said at the Ministry of ESDM in Jakarta on Wednesday, 13 May 2026. Previously, Shell petrol stations had experienced a shortage of fuel oil stock since the beginning of 2026, while other private petrol stations had already resumed normal sales of fuel. Then, on 9 May 2026, Shell Indonesia’s management finally announced that diesel was available again at their stations at a price of Rp30,890 per litre. “Praise be to God, now there is collaboration with Pertamina so they can start again,” Laode said. Meanwhile, for other private petrol stations such as bp and Vivo, Laode said that his side had facilitated meetings for purchasing diesel from Pertamina. “Actually, that’s the direction we’re heading. Not all yet, but it’s starting,” he said. It is known that in February 2026, the Ministry of ESDM stated that private petrol station management entities would use domestic diesel purchased from Pertamina starting April 2026. Several points that Pertamina had to prepare during the transition period, for example, providing adequate loading ports, cargo adjusted to the volume ordered by each business entity, and pure or base diesel fuel specifications adjusted to the demands of the business entities. Various points were discussed in a meeting between Laode and the petrol station management business entities as a mitigation step, so that in April it is hoped there will be no crisis related to purchasing domestic diesel. The requirement to purchase diesel from Pertamina follows the production capacity of the Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) at Refinery Unit V in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. The refinery enables processing of up to 360,000 barrels per day, equivalent to 22-25 percent or a quarter of national needs. Economically, the Balikpapan RDMP will have a significant impact on national energy independence, with savings on fuel imports of up to Rp68 trillion per year and a contribution to the national GDP of Rp514 trillion.