Fadli Zon's Satirical Tweet About Fuel Prices

Deputy Chairperson of the Gerindra Party, Fadli Zon. (dpr.go.id)

JAKARTA – Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP) Fadli Zon was amazed by the greatness of the Algerian state. The country which is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, has a good resource management system.

The price of petrol alone is only IDR 3,000 per liter and diesel IDR 1,700 per liter. None of the roads is paid. Even more amazing, Algeria provides free health services and free education up to the Masters level for its citizens.

“In Algeria, free health, free education up to master's degree, some free housing. Extraordinary." This feeling of amazement was expressed by Fadli Zon via his Twitter account on January 29, 2023.

Even though it was just information, the tweet actually reaped cynical comments. Many Twitter activists consider what Fadli Zon wrote as a satirical sentence, satirizing conditions in the country.

“Conveying the greatness of other countries and showing the depravity of their own country, even though they are involved in the journey of this country. So where's the greatness of voicing it? You should be ashamed...", wrote @elesteLST in a comment.

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Prastowo Yustinus responded to Fadli Zon's tweet. (Twitter Prastowo Yustinus)

After all, comparing Algeria to Indonesia is inappropriate, added @andre_citro, “No Apple to Apple. Algeria's oil production is almost 2 times that of Indonesia with a population of 44 million. Here, our population is 270 million, and of course the demand for more oil. Where, if there is a lot of demand and limited supply, it's definitely expensive."

When referring to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data described by Prastowo Yustinus' account, it is indeed not comparable. Algeria has oil reserves of up to 12.2 billion barrels in 2021, five times larger than Indonesia's which is only 2.4 billion barrels in the same year.

Crude oil production including Algerian condensate leases will also reach more than 1 million barrels per day in November 2022, almost double that of Indonesia's 619,770 barrels per day.

Likewise, the population of Algeria, only 44,178,884 people in 2022 or only 1/6 of Indonesia's population reaches 277 million people.

Meanwhile, Algeria's debt-to-Gross Domestic Product ratio actually reaches 62.99 percent in 2021, higher than Indonesia's which is only 41.6 percent.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the debt-to-GDP ratio is obtained by dividing a country's debt-to-GDP. This ratio is a key indicator for assessing a country's financial sustainability.

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Illustration – There are a number of factors that make fuel prices different in each country, one of which is the subsidy policy (Unsplash)

“Mr @fadlizon may need to compare this too. Algeria has 5x Indonesia's oil reserves, 2x Indonesia's lifting, and a population of only 1/6 of Indonesia. Eh…Algeria's debt ratio is 62.99%. Here the debt ratio is 39.57% (2022) you have ridiculed it all over", Prastowo tweeted.

He also considered that the basic information written by Fadli Zon regarding fuel prices in Algeria was inaccurate. When referring to Global Petrol Prices, the price of gasoline in Algeria on 23 January 2023 was 45.97 Algerian Dinars or around IDR 5,077.

However, according to Fadli Zon, he only provided basic information about gasoline prices. Not to compare it with Indonesia.

"Try reading my tweets slowly, that's basic information about the price of petrol, diesel and not paying to go. The one who makes comparisons and sucks is you yourself. What is clear is that Algeria may have learned from Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, that natural wealth is for the maximum prosperity of the people, not for foreign prosperity", tweeted Fadli Zon in response to Prastowo's comments on January 30.

“Hehe…I don't need to be angry and play on words for this matter. Instead, I provide accompanying information for the Indonesian public, that price information taken out of context is prone to misleading. Fuel price setting is the government's decision, in which Gerindra has a share,” Prastowo countered again.

In different Countries, Different Fuel Prices

The price of fuel oil (BBM) in each country is indeed different. Forget about Algeria, Indonesia's fuel prices are different from neighbouring Malaysia. There are at least several factors that affect fuel prices in each country:

The first is of course the world oil price. Fluctuations in the price of crude oil on the international market in principle follow the generally accepted trends in the market economy. Launching from Fauzannissa in the 'Gaussian Journal Volume 5' world oil prices are influenced by three factors, namely:

1. The first factor is the fundamental factor, which consists of oil demand, oil supply, oil stocks, world reserve production capacity and world refinery capabilities.
2. Non-fundamental factors, such as geopolitics, government policies, weather, natural disasters, strikes, damage to production chain installations, weakening of the dollar and speculation.
3. The influence of OPEC supply policy.

The price of oil that is finally determined is also related to the value of each country's currency.

Second, the subsidy policy. Each country also sets a different subsidy policy. For example, Indonesia raised fuel prices in September 2022. Data from the Ministry of Finance shows that the number of energy subsidies and compensation in the 2022 State Budget at that time had already reached IDR 502.4 trillion.

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Prastowo Yustinus' Twitter account presents comparative data on why fuel prices in Algeria are cheaper than in Indonesia. (Twitter Prastowo Yustinus)

Seeing the trend of world oil prices still at US$100-105 per barrel, the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar which ranges from Rp.14,450-Rp.14,700, and the volume of fuel consumption which continues to increase, the government finally made a policy to increase fuel prices.

Because if not, the number of subsidies will continue to swell up to IDR 698 trillion.

Third, domestic production. Oil exporting countries that are members of OPEC, such as Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela may not need to import because their oil production is sufficient to meet the needs of their respective countries.

Unlike Indonesia. SKK Migas noted that Indonesia's crude oil production is only 616.6 thousand barrels per day until June 2022. This is not comparable to its demand which reaches around more than 1.2 million barrels per day.

Indonesia must export oil from other countries to meet domestic needs. This is what influences Indonesia's fuel prices to be different from other countries.