Oilfields development
Non-Subsidized Fuel Prices Reach Rp 10,000 per Litter
According to a press statement available on Pertamina’ website, the price of Pertamax fuel (octane 92 fuel) in Greater Jakarta rises by 4 percent to Rp 9,050 (US$1.05) per liter from Rp 8,700 previously.
In Central Java and East Java, the prices are a bit more expensive, Rp 9,300 and Rp 9,350 respectively.
The price of Pertamax Plus (octane 95 fuel) in Greater Jakarta is set at Rp 10,000, an increase of 9.28 percent from Rp 9,150 earlier, while the price of Pertamina Dex, the company’s diesel fuel, stands at Rp 10,350, down 4.16 percent from Rp 10,800. In Central Java and East Java, the prices hit Rp 9,550 and 9,600.
Pertamina marketing director Djaelani Sutomo said that high prices of non-subsidized fuels would not hinder the government’s program to persuade car owners not to buy subsidized fuels. “We keep educating buyers. We remind them that if their cars are manufactured above the year of 2005, they have to buy high-octane fuels [octane 92 or 95] otherwise their machines won’t work optimally,” he explained.
Increased global oil prices have not only forced Pertamina to adjust its fuel prices but also its competitor, Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, which owns 50 fuel stations in Greater Jakarta and East Java.
Shell Super (octane 92 fuel) currently stands at Rp 9,050 in Greater Jakarta, same as the price of Pertamina’s Pertamax, while in East Java, the price was at Rp 9,350.
The company’s octane 95 fuel, Shell Super Extra, sells at Rp 9,350 in Greater Jakarta and Rp 9,600 in East Java. Shell Diesel’s price is set at Rp 9,700 in Greater Jakarta and Rp 9,900 in East Java.
The chairman of the association of fuel station owners (Hiswana Migas), Eri Purnomo Hadi, said that increased prices of non-subsidized fuels would lead customers to purchase more subsidized fuels.
“One of solutions to prevent non-subsidized fuel consumers from converting to subsidized fuel consumers is raising the prices of subsidized fuels so that the price disparity won’t be very large,” he suggested.
Ideally, the disparity between subsidized and non-subsidized fuel prices was no more between Rp 2,000 and 2,500, he continued.
However, in a press conference held on Monday, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) warned that if the government increased the price of the subsidized Premium fuel by Rp 1,000 to Rp 5,500 per liter, the inflation rate might also go up by between 0.5 and 0.6 percent.
