New Government, Pertamina's Performance Is Believed To Increase

JAKARTA - Pertamina's performance throughout the Jokowi government is considered to be on the right track. Related to that, senior economist from the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) Tauhid Ahmad is optimistic that the performance of the BUMN energy can continue to be improved in the Government of President Prabowo Subianto, including in efforts to realize energy independence.

"That's right, on the right track, in terms of corporate and responsibility, there is no need to doubt it. From upstream to downstream, Pertamina doesn't have a problem. For that, I believe, it is able to improve performance and meet the needs of the community. Of course, there must be a boost in the form of regulations and incentives from the new government," Tauhid told the media today, Wednesday, October 23.

Tauhid added that Pertamina's efforts to carry out their duties as an energy BUMN were indeed good. Among other things, it contributes 69 percent of oil production and 34% of national gas production. Likewise in terms of financial performance, when in 2023 it was able to reap a profit of 17 percent more than the previous year.

Likewise, in the future, Tauhid believes, through the stronger support from the Prabowo government, the performance of SOEs including Pertamina will increase.

"Because Pertamina is in the capacity to carry out its duties," he explained.

According to Tauhid, the support can be in the form of regulations and various incentives, including tariffs. For example, reducing dividends so that existing funds can be allocated for the upstream sector. Through this reallocation, it is hoped that Pertamina can further increase activities such as exploration and exploitation.

Thus, he added, it is hoped that in the future it will further reduce dependence on imports. Including preparing a substituTION program to reduce non-diesel fuel imports, such as Pertalite and Pertamax. If this is realized, Tauhid believes that imports will also continue to decline and support various efforts that have already been made by Pertamina.

"Especially to suppress imports, Pertamina has previously carried out through the Biodiesel B50 program," added Tauhid.

In addition to reducing dependence on imports, energy transition programs such as Biodiesel also play a role in reducing emissions, including meeting the Net Zero Emission (NZE) target no later than 2060.

For this reason, Tauhid also hopes that the government will continue to encourage Pertamina and other SOEs to further develop clean energy. Moreover, he continued, currently the use of clean energy has only reached 12-13 percent.