JAKARTA - Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia reported that national fuel stocks were still safe amid Middle East tensions. However, LPG still depends on large imports.
The report was delivered by Bahlil in a limited meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Monday, April 27.
According to Bahlil, the stock of solar and gasoline is above the national minimum standard. This condition has lasted for almost two months since the Hormuz Strait issue heated up.
"All of the above are above the national minimum standard," said Bahlil.
Crude oil stocks for refinery needs are also said to be safe. Therefore, the supply of fuel and crude is considered relatively not problematic.
A different problem arises when talking about LPG. National consumption reaches 8.6 million tons per year. Of that amount, domestic production is only around 1.6 million to 1.7 million tons.
The rest, around 7 million tons, still has to be imported.
This dependence has been going on since the conversion of kerosene to LPG. Households switched to gas cylinders, but the raw materials were not available in the country.
Bahlil explained that Indonesia was difficult to build an LPG industry on a large scale because the raw materials, namely C3 and C4, were not produced much in the country. C3 and C4 are types of gas processed into LPG in tubes used by households.
Therefore, the government began to look for substitutes. Options being studied include DME from low-cal coal - a fuel that looks and works like LPG - as well as CNG from domestic natural gas, namely natural gas that is compressed so that it can be used as fuel.
"For LPG, we keep turning our brains," he said.
Bahlil said that in the midst of uncertain geopolitics, Indonesia must enter "survival mode" in the energy sector. This means that energy sources whose raw materials are in the country must be used first.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
