The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bahlil Lahadalia, suggests that there may be a cessation of gasoline imports with RON 92, RON 95, and RON 98 octane ratings by the year 2027, provided that the domestic production capacity is able to meet domestic demand.
"If all these (RON 92, RON 95, and RON 98) are available, that means we will no longer need to import," he said when met in Jakarta.
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The minister is currently focusing efforts on enhancing the production capacity of Indonesian refineries for three specific fuel oil types to fulfill the requirements of the domestic market.
Once Indonesia achieves the capability to internally manufacture the specified trio of fuel variants, Lahadalia affirmed that the necessity of imports will be obviated.
In addition, it is anticipated that independent operators of gas stations, such as Shell, BP, and Vivo, will procure fuel from the government-owned oil corporation, Pertamina.
"So, please buy from Pertamina. However, as long as our production capacity is still insufficient to meet consumption, we will still have to import temporarily," he adds.
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At present, he declared that private gas stations continue to receive allocations for fuel importation. Nevertheless, the minister is currently in the process of determining the specific quotas for each private gas station.
He stated that import quotas have been implemented as a result of Pertamina's inability to produce enough to meet the current demand.
Lahadalia accompanied President Prabowo Subianto to the inauguration of the Balikpapan Refinery revitalization project, also referred to as the Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP).
The intention of this project is to reduce the amount of gasoline imports by a potential 5.8 million kiloliters annually.
Lahadalia proceeded to communicate that the national demand amounts to around 38.5 million kiloliters annually, whereas domestic production stands at approximately 14.27 million KL. The requirement includes an annual consumption of 28.9 million KL of RON 90 gasoline, 8.7 million KL of RON 92 gasoline, and approximately 650,000 KL of RON 95 and RON 98 gasoline.
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By optimizing the RDMP of the Balikpapan Refinery, it is possible to increase the production of gasoline with an octane rating above RON 90 to 5.8 million KL annually.