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Pertamina to keep nonsubsidized fuel prices flat until September
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A gas station employee serves motorists with non-subsidized fuel of the Pertamax brand at the Cikini gas station in Central Jakarta. (ANTARA FOTO/Sigid Kurniawan)
S
tate-owned energy firm Pertamina expects to maintain the prices of nonsubsidized fuels until September, despite the gradual increase in global oil prices.
Currently, Pertamina sells Pertalite (RON 90), Pertamax (RON 92) and Pertamax Plus (RON 95) at Rp 7,100 (54 US cents), Rp 7,550 and Rp 8,450 per liter respectively in Jawa, Madura and Bali. Meanwhile, the subsidized Premium (RON 88) type is sold at Rp 6,450 per liter.
"The prices of Pertalite and Pertamax are heavily related to the price of Premium. A price increase for the nonsubsidized fuels may prompt people to shift to subsidized fuel. We have promised not to change the price of Premium until September," president director Dwi Soetjipto told thejakartapost.com on Monday.
According to Dwi, the price gap has driven consumers to use nonsubsidized fuel. Therefore, in the recent exodus (mudik) season, Pertalite and Pertamax sales jumped by 200 percent per day on average, while Premium sales were 5 percent lower than on average days.
Pertamina expects global oil prices to hover around $50 per barrel in remainder of the year following a rebound in June. Brent crude closed at $46.55 per barrel on Tuesday.
"We’ll see if the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) will be affected in September, because the rebound has been slowing down lately, especially after Brexit," Dwi said. (ags)
