Looking For Solutions To Fuel Scarcity Problems At Protracted Private Gas Stations

JAKARTA The private Public Fuel Filling Station (SPBU) is in turmoil due to the scarcity of fuel oil (BBM). On the other hand, the Minister of Mineral Resources, Bahlil Lahadalia, suggested that private gas stations collaborate with Pertamina to overcome fuel shortages.

In several big cities such as Bandung, Jakarta, Tangerang, and Surabaya, Shell gas stations and BP-AKR gas stations almost ran out of stock of non-subsidized fuel, some even had zero supplies. This condition has occurred for almost the past month.

The trigger for the scarcity of non-subsidized fuel stocks at private gas stations is varied, ranging from market dynamics to the impact of government policies.

The scarcity of non-subsidized fuel supply has disrupted the private gas station business. Shell's party adopted a policy of adjusting operating hours and teams in charge of serving customers. Other private gas stations, such as BP-AKR, have also experienced limited fuel stocks. This problem has been going on since the end of last August.

In the midst of the scarcity of non-subsidized fuel at private gas stations, the public suspects that there is a monopoly practice, after the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia asked the manager of private gas stations to collaborate with PT Pertamina to overcome the scarcity of gasoline stocks experienced.

News about the scarcity of fuel stocks at private gas stations has occurred since the end of August 2025. In her official statement on August 25, Shell stated that fuel products of the type Shell Super, Shell V-Power, and Shell V-Power Nitro+ were not available in several gas stations networks until an uncertain time.

The lack of non-subsidized fuel at private gas stations has even started to have an impact on the workforce. President Director & Managing Director of Mobility Shell Indonesia Ingrid Siburian said that there was already a Shell gas station that lay off the team on duty. However, Shell has not disclosed in more detail the number of employees who have been laid off.

The scarcity of non-subsidized fuel at private gas stations also makes it difficult for customers to fill up gasoline for their private vehicles for some time. Some of them switched to Pertamina gas stations. Meanwhile, at gas stations owned by British Petroleum Indonesia (BP) there was no buying and selling activity. Their fuel stock is empty.

The public is wondering what actually caused the scarcity of non-subsidized fuel at private gas stations? The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources claims that the vacancy at private gas stations is driven by the transfer of subsidized fuel users to non-subsidized fuel.

"That's the dynamic that happened, there was a shift. What used to be many RON 90 users, there was a shift to another RON. Actually, this is just a dynamic of consumption," said the Director General of Oil and Gas, Laode Sulaeman, quoting Kompas.

Meanwhile, another opinion said that the scarcity of fuel at private gas stations occurred due to the government's import quota policy.

So far, private companies have imported their own fuel. They submitted a need plan to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to get an import quota. Previously, this process was running normally.

In February 2025, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia said his ministry regulated the import permit for fuel which was previously valid for one year to six months. This policy was implemented as part of improving the trading system for imports and exports of fuel in Indonesia.

In addition, fuel importers are required to hold appropriate permits, processing or commercial businesses, in addition to submitting periodic reports to the Directorate General of Oil and Gas Earth every three months or at any time if necessary.

This policy makes private gas stations have to face licensing bureaucracy more often, which requires a process. This turns out to be an obstacle for private gas stations in providing non-subsidized fuel stocks to customers.

To overcome the scarcity of gasoline, ESDM Minister Bahlil Lahadalia appealed to private companies to collaborate with Pertamina. This is done so that Indonesia can maintain the balance of oil and gas imports.

"If there is something that is still lacking, please buy it at Pertamina as well. I check that there are still a lot of stock in Pertamina," said Bahlil.

By buying products belonging to SOEs that are still available, Bahlil hopes that the private sector will not increase imports of oil and gas products. Moreover, the government has provided an additional import quota to the private sector of 10 percent of the 2024 quota by 2025.

Bahlil's appeal for private gas stations to buy fuel from Pertamina was actually seen as problematic, and had the opportunity to create a monopoly, according to economist FEB Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Fahmy Miki.

Fahmy assessed that the government seemed to be returning governance in the downstream sector from liberalization to regulated policies. Even though foreign companies were initially willing to invest in fuel gas stations because of liberal governance.

This allows companies to freely set up gas stations throughout Indonesia, to freely procure fuel according to the set quota, and to be free in setting selling prices to consumers according to market mechanisms.

With the involvement of national companies, in this case Pertamina, private gas stations are no longer free in the procurement of fuel imports. In fact, one of the sources of the private gas station margin is the procurement of fuel imports that have the freedom to determine imports at the cheapest price.

If collaboration with Pertamina is forced, Fahmy estimates that the advantages of private gas stations will decrease, and even lose. If this is the case, then it is not impossible that private gas stations will fall.

"Resiliently foreign gas stations will have an impact on the investment climate in Indonesia, not only in the oil and gas sector, but also in other business sector investments," said Fahmy.

On the other hand, Trisakti University public policy observer Trubus Rahardiansah assessed that the one-door oil import policy (BBM) issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources was appropriate. This policy, he said, was important to do to maintain national energy sovereignty and protect consumers from the risk of unstable prices.

"This is not discrimination or monopoly. It is precisely supply consolidation so that volume, quality, and financing remain under control at the national level. Thus, potential inefficiency and price disparities can be avoided," said Trubus.