Members Of Commission VII DPR Want Official Cars To Be Prohibited From Using Pertalite And Solar Fuel

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government is currently formulating regulations related to the technical appointment of subsidized fuel oil purchases of Pertalite and Solar types so that the distribution can be more targeted.

Secretary General of the National Energy Council (DEN) Djoko Siswanto said the regulation would regulate two things, namely the increase in world oil prices and the shift of consumers from non-subsidized fuel to subsidized fuel due to price disparities.

"In the Presidential Decree, it is not only Pertalite fuel that will be refined, one more crucial thing is diesel fuel because diesel is still subsidized even though it is subsidized per liter, but the price is still very cheap when compared to non-subsidized diesel," he said in a broadcast on CNBC Energy Corner, quoted from Antara, Monday 30 May.

Currently the price of subsidized diesel is only sold at IDR 5,100 per liter, while the price of non-subsidized diesel has reached almost IDR 13,000 per liter.

Djoko said the war between Ukraine and Russia had made world oil prices soar, especially gasoline, so that the domestic price of Pertamax rose to Rp 12,500 per liter.

Meanwhile, the government also did not increase the price of Pertalite which made the difference in the price of fuel for this type of assignment similar between Diesel and Gasoline. This then makes consumers switch from buying Pertamax to Pertalite.

This situation makes Pertamina's financial burden even heavier because the company has to import around 50 percent of gasoline at a high price, while the selling price of its products does not increase according to the economic price.

"These two things will be further regulated by the new Presidential Regulation," said Djoko.

He further said that Solar is the first priority that the government will regulate because this type of fuel is used not only by motor vehicles, but also by the mining and plantation industries, to large ships. As for Pertalite, there was only a shift in consumers which made the volume of distribution increase.

Member of Commission VII DPR RI Mulyanto said that the parliament had met with PT Pertamina (Persero) and BPH Migas to discuss the rules for purchasing subsidized fuel.

In the meeting, said Mulyanto, Pertamina hopes that the purchasing rules can be arranged so that the distribution of subsidized fuel and assignments can be more targeted.

"When the price of unsubsidized diesel continues to increase, it means that the disparity is getting higher, this is more vulnerable, so diesel must be regulated. Then, when following Pertamax, something similar happened, there was a high gap between Pertalite and Pertamax," said the PKS politician.

The government is currently formulating consumers who are entitled to receive subsidized fuel. Now in general, those who are entitled to receive subsidized fuel are small businesses, micro businesses, small farmers with land under two hectares, public transportation.

In various forums, continued Mulyanto, he tends to propose that the government tighten the purchase of Pertalite, in which luxury cars and official cars are not allowed to use Pertalite, including diesel.

"We direct that purchases are more targeted to those in need. So, that's the urgency," concluded Mulyanto.