Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Malaysia turns out to be a country that sells fuel oil (BBM) to the public the cheapest among Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN), including cheaper than Indonesia.
Although Indonesia still sells fuel prices of Rp 5,150 per liter for the type of diesel sold by PT Pertamina (Persero), even sells gasoline with an octane rating (RON) of 88 or Premium at Rp 6,450 per liter, in fact Malaysia is able to sell gasoline with an octane rating. higher but at a price that is not much different from Premium gasoline in Indonesia.
Malaysia changes fuel prices once a week and usually takes effect as of Thursday afternoon at 17.00 local time. The lowest quality fuel sold is gasoline with RON 95, then RON 97, and Diesel.
With a much higher quality, namely gasoline with an octane rating (RON) of 95, Malaysia is priced at RM 2.05 per liter or around IDR 7,051 per liter (assuming an exchange rate of 1 RM = IDR 3,439.63). That is the price for the period 27 January-2 February 2022.
Meanwhile in Indonesia, with the same fuel quality in Malaysia, the cheapest RON 95 gasoline is sold at Rp 12,500 per liter, namely Revvo 95 sold by Vivo, in February 2022.
For Public Fuel Filling Stations (SPBU) BP in Indonesia costs the BP 95 at a price of Rp. 13,450 per liter, and Shell V-Power (RON 95) at Rp. 13,550 per liter.
Meanwhile, PT Pertamina (Persero), which can be said to sell the cheapest fuel prices compared to other private companies, gasoline with an octane rating (RON) of 90 or Pertalite alone is sold at a price of Rp. 7,650 – Rp. 8,000 per liter, while Pertamax (RON 92) is priced at Rp. IDR 9,000 – IDR 9,400 per liter.
Pertamina now no longer sells gasoline with an octane rating of 95, but after RON 92, immediately RON 98 or Pertamax Turbo which is priced at Rp 12,000 – Rp 12,400 per liter.
This means, with a much higher quality, namely with RON 95, even the selling price of fuel in Malaysia is still much cheaper than gasoline with a lower octane rating in Indonesia such as Pertalite (RON 90) which is priced at Rp. 7,650 per liter.
So, what causes Malaysia to be able to sell fuel at low prices?
Like Indonesia, the Malaysian government also provides subsidies for its fuel products. However, the difference is that Indonesia provides subsidies for lower quality fuel products such as subsidized diesel and provides compensation for gasoline with an octane rating (RON) of 88 aka Premium.
Meanwhile, Malaysia directly subsidizes gasoline products with higher quality and octane ratings, namely RON 95.
Citing Reuters, the Malaysian government has budgeted subsidies for fuel, LPG and cooking oil in 2021 to reach RM8 billion or equivalent to US$1.95 billion or around Rp27.8 trillion. This subsidy is to set the price of RON 95 fuel to be maintained at RM 2.05 per liter, Diesel at RM 2.15 per liter, LPG at RM 1.90 per kg, and cooking oil at RM 2.50 per pack.
The Malaysian government’s total budget in 2021 is RM 307.54 billion. So, the subsidy budget has a portion of 2.6% of the total state expenditure.
Compared to Indonesia, state spending in the 2021 State Budget (APBN) is IDR 2,750.03 trillion. Meanwhile, the realization of fuel subsidies (and 3 kg LPG) for 2021 is estimated at Rp 66.94 trillion. The share of fuel subsidies in the APBN is 2.43%, slightly lower than Malaysia.
In addition to subsidies, Indonesia and Malaysia have different statuses for oil affairs. Citing OPEC records, Malaysia’s average oil imports during 2010-2019 were 213,970 barrels/day annually. Meanwhile, Indonesia has much more, namely 334,790 barrels/day every year.
Unfortunately, this import occurred in the midst of an upward trend in oil prices. Since the beginning of 2021, the price of Brent oil has jumped 46.94% on a global basis point-to-point. In the last year, the price skyrocketed 79.72%.
Therefore, the cost of procuring fuel in Indonesia is more expensive than Malaysia. Already the imports are high, the price of oil is getting more expensive too. This makes the selling price of fuel must be more expensive.
In addition, the Director of Downstream Oil and Gas Business Development of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) RI, Soerjaningsih, also briefly explained that the price of fuel in Malaysia is cheaper than Indonesia because Malaysia has implemented a policy Automatic Pricing Mechanism (APM) formula in setting the price of fuel.
This APM policy serves to stabilize the price of gasoline (gasoline RON 95, gasoline RON 97) and diesel to a certain extent, through the application of sales taxes and subsidies in varying amounts, so that changes in retail prices are influenced by the amount of taxes and subsidies to a certain extent according to the policies adopted. set by the Malaysian government.
“With the APM policy, the Malaysian government maintains fuel prices at a certain level through the provision of incentives,” he said in September 2021.
(wia)
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