JAKARTA - PT Pertamina Patra Niaga officially introduced Biosolar B40 Performance, an innovation in 40 percent blended biodiesel fuel to meet the needs of the industrial sector.
This product equipped with a special additive package is designed to overcome the technical challenges of using biodiesel in heavy-duty diesel engines.
The product, which is touted as an environmentally friendly fuel with high performance, is suspected of having been infiltrated by business interests.
In his statement, Sentinel Studies of Law and Society (Sentinel) revealed that there were indications of serious irregularities centered on the procurement of additives for the Solar B40 Performance product.
"We found strong indications that the addition of additive products supplied by Company Afton Chemical was carried out without going through the proper tender process. This is a direct appointment that is fraught with conflicts of interest," said Sentinel Policy Advocacy Director, Ronald Jefferson, in a press statement, Tuesday, February 3.
Sentinel reminded that the statement of former Pertamina Commissioner Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) when testifying in the trial had revealed problems in the additive tender for the blending process at the refinery that occurred at Patra Niaga, including procurement practices by changing the company's name even though the goods were the same and the difference in procurement prices that made the cost more expensive.
According to Sentinel, this fact shows that the additive issue is not just a technical issue, but a procurement governance problem. Therefore, the alleged direct appointment of Afton Chemical without a tender and the practice of manual mixing of additives in Solar B40 Performance is currently considered as a continuation of the same problematic procurement pattern, which has the potential to harm the state and consumers.
As is known, this product has just been launched with the claim of the superiority of the additive formula which is able to clean the engine and increase combustion efficiency for industrial consumers.
"The public and the industry pay a premium for 'Performance', but if it is true that the contents are only solar mixed with additives manually, then this is a massive form of public lying," added Sentinel.
The launch of the B40 product according to Pertamnina Patra Niaga is an answer to technical issues often faced by the industry, such as water content, filter clogging tendencies, and decreased engine performance due to the hygroscopic nature of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME).
"We designed this product for B40, equipped with an additive package to help overcome technical issues often faced by industrial consumers," explained VP Business Development and Subsidiary Pertamina Patra Niaga, Sigit Setiawan, in a press conference, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, December 23, 2025.
Before being marketed, Biosolar B40 Performance has undergone a series of laboratory tests and field tests to ensure that the benefits of the product can be optimally felt by consumers, while providing a positive impact on operational efficiency.
Currently, Biosolar B40 Performance is marketed in a business-to-business (B2B) scheme for industrial consumers.
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