Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The discourse on the abolition of fuel oil (BBM) for gasoline types with an octane rating (RON) of 88 or Premium has been rolling for a long time, although until now Premium has not been removed. In fact, other neighboring countries in Southeast Asia no longer sell gasoline with RON 88.
Responding to the discourse on the abolition of Premium BBM, the President Commissioner of PT Pertamina (Persero) Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok also spoke up.
Ahok said that subsidies should no longer be given to premium gasoline, but shifted to Pertalite which is more environmentally friendly.
“Should be Public Service Obligation (PSO) subsidies move to Pertalite which is more environmentally friendly,” he told CNBC Indonesia, quoted Monday (27/09/2021).
He explained that now people have started to switch from consumption of Premium gasoline to Pertalite. He said 80% of current fuel sales are Pertalite.
“And currently 80% of fuel sales are Pertalite,” he said.
Ahok further said that if the government could provide direct subsidies to the people, it would be possible for Indonesia to only sell Pertamax and Pertamax Turbo gasoline in the future. Thus, environmental pollution will no longer occur due to the consumption of low quality fuel.
“If the subsidy can go directly to the people, maybe in the future it will only be Pertamax and Pertamax Turbo so that there will be no environmental pollution of low-octane fuel,” he explained.
He emphasized that subsidies should indeed be given directly to people who are entitled to receive them, not to goods as it is currently running.
“The point is that subsidies should go directly to the people, not goods,” he said.
It should be noted that Indonesia is the only country in Southeast Asia that still sells RON 88 or Premium fuel, and is even still being subsidized. In contrast to other neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, which sell gasoline with the lowest octane rating of 90/91, such as in Thailand, the Philippines, and Laos.
Meanwhile, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia sell the lowest quality gasoline with RON 92 or equivalent to Pertamax. Meanwhile, Malaysia is the only country in ASEAN that sells the lowest gasoline with RON 95 quality.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif said that there are only four countries in the world that are still consuming Premium. Indonesia is one of the four countries.
Arifin invites the public to switch to fuel with a higher RON, because it is not only good for the engine, but also more environmentally friendly.
“There are still four countries in the world that are still using Premium. We are left behind from Vietnam, which is already Euro 4 and will enter Euro 5, we are still at Euro 2,” he explained in a Working Meeting (Raker) with Commission VII DPR RI, Thursday (26/08). /2021).
He further said that in the future vehicle technology will continue to develop, where this technology demands better fuel quality. He again invited the public to switch to fuel with a higher octane rating such as Pertamax.
“In this case, we ask for support on how to respond well to this, Premium sales outlets are reduced slowly,” he said.
(wia)
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