Price disparity triggers subsidized diesel fuel scarcity: Minister
The wide price disparity between subsidized and non-subsidized diesel fuels triggered the scarcity in subsidized diesel fuels, according to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif.
"The price gap between non-subsidized Pertamina Dex and subsidized Biosolar is around Rp8,000 per liter. People, who are supposed to buy the subsidized fuel, do not even get it," Tasrif noted in a press statement on Friday.
However, the minister stated that the price of fuel oil in Indonesia was one of the cheapest as compared to countries in the Southeast Asian region, which has increased two to three folds in recent times.
One of the factors that caused the price disparity was the disruption in the global oil supply due to the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine, thereby resulting in a significant increase in the world oil price.
"Russian oil cannot be sold outside the country, resulting in an imbalance in supply, so the world oil prices are high and difficult to obtain," Tasrif explained.
However, he ensured that the fuel oil quota was sufficient during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. He also noted that the quota would be likely increased to up to 10 percent as a form of the government's precautionary measures against increased demand due to rising economic activity.
On April 7, Minister Tasrif and Pertamina President Director Nicke Widyawati visited nine gas stations in East Kalimantan and South Kalimantan to monitor the availability of fuel supply and distribution in the region of mining and plantations. Read More...
