Bahlil Asked To Order Pertamina To Produce Euro 4 Standard Fuel

Illustration - Pertamina Dex High Quality Production Of PT Pertamina Workers checks the installation during fuel loading at Jetty 5, Refinery Unit V, East Kalimantan. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is asked to immediately accelerate the implementation of low sulfur fuel oil (BBM) in Indonesia.

"ESDM Minister Bahlil Lahadalia must directly order Pertamina to only be allowed to produce fuel that meets the Euro 4 standard," said Executive Director of the Committee for the Elimination of Coupling Gasoline (KPBB) Ahmad Safrudin as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, October 10.

He added that Pertamina's appointment to produce standard Euro 4 fuel (50 ppm sulfur content) will be a crucial solution in tackling air pollution in Jakarta and other major cities.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, he said, has actually established an obligation to provide sulfur low fuel since October 2018 for gasoline, and April 2022 for diesel. However, according to him, implementation in the field is still slow.

"That is the government's obligation, especially the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, which must ensure the availability of fuel supplies throughout Indonesia, which has the standard of Euro 4. Second, Pertamina has no other option, except to comply with regulatory regulations," he said.

According to Safrudin, the quality of fuel in Indonesia is lagging behind other countries in Southeast Asia.

With the supply of fuel that does not meet the Euro 4 standard, motor vehicle technology that already uses this standard becomes ineffective so that the resulting emissions remain high.

"It should have been standardized by our Euro 4 motorized vehicles, both diesel or diesel and gasoline," he said.

Safrudin added that the decision of the Supreme Court (MA) through the Jakarta High Court (PT) in October 2022 could also be a legal push for the government to accelerate the policy.

It is known that at that time residents won the appeal legal action filed by President Joko Widodo and his ministers over the air pollution lawsuit in DKI Jakarta.

"The decision states that the President, Minister of Environment and Forestry, Minister of Health, Minister of Home Affairs, then the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Governor of West Java, Governor of Banten, are obliged to make efforts for policies to control air pollution in accordance with established regulations," he said.

Meanwhile, through a separate statement, Corporate Secretary of PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI) Hermansyah Y. Nasroen said the government had set a maximum sulfur limit of 50 ppm for diesel and gasoline fuel through SK Director General of Oil and Gas No. 447.K/2023 and No. 110.K/2022, with a target valid on December 1, 2027 for diesel and January 1, 2028 for gasoline.

"Currently, KPI products with sulfur content below 50 ppm are Pertamax Turbo and Pertamina Dex," he said.

To meet this target, Hermansyah said KPI had and would carry out several projects, including the Balikpapan refinery development master plan (RDMP) project, which is planned to be completed in 2025 which will produce fuel products with the same quality as Euro 5.

Furthermore, the hydrotreated diesel unit (DHT) construction project to produce diesel with a maximum sulfur level of 50 ppm at the Cilacap Refinery and Dumai Refinery as well as the construction project for the sulfur hydrotreater (GSH) gasoline unit to produce gasoline with a maximum sulfur of 50 ppm at the Plaju and Balongan refineries.

"These projects are KPI's contribution to reducing emissions and part of the implementation of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) in an effort to become an environmentally friendly company, be responsible for social affairs and have good governance," said Hermansyah.