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New rules to delay phaseout of subsidized gasoline: Experts
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A gas station worker serves customers in the West Papua city of Bintuni in April 2019. (The Jakarta Post/Jerry Adiguna)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has issued a regulation that experts say will prolong the use of Premium-branded gasoline rather than help the country ditch its dirtiest type of fuel.
The subsidized gasoline sold by state-owned oil giant Pertamina – despite what its name suggests – is a low-grade fuel. With a research octane number (RON) of 88, it is of the lowest global standard. Low-octane gasoline is cheaper, but also more environmentally damaging.
Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 117/2021 – which took effect on Friday – is the third amendment to Perpres No. 191/2014 on the supply, distribution and pricing of various types of fuel.
It expands the distribution area for Premium gasoline to all parts in Indonesia, leaving it to the government to decide which regions to supply at any given time.
Previously, the 2014 regulation excluded the islands of Java and Bali, until a 2018 amendment allowed for the distribution of Premium gasoline on those islands, but only in exceptional cases.
Article 21C of the new regulation states that the president will assign the energy minister to formulate a road map for clean and environmentally friendly fuel, which implies that the ministry now is in charge of deciding when to ditch the Premium-branded fuel.
Currently, Arifin Tasrif serves as minister of energy and mineral resources.
