JAKARTA: Indonesia has successfully cut its fuel imports after several domestic oil and gas facilities were optimized this year. The drop in imports means that the the government is closer to eliminating the mafia that previously caused the nation to be dependent on fuel imports, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said.
Said said that Pertamina had been increasing its amount of fuel supplied locally by refinery revitalization through the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) project at the Cilacap refinery, the Refining Development Masterplan Program (RDMP) at the Cilacap, Balongan, Dumai and Balikpapan refineries, as well as the Cilacap Blue Project (PLBC).
The three projects are predicted to improve the capacity and quality of the refineries, and thus reduce gasoline, diesel and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) imports by 15 percent, 30 percent and 10 percent, respectively. The fuel imports reduction had led to the state saving US$ 15.84 million per day, Said added.
He claimed that these kinds of projects were rarely carried out in the past due to the oil and gas mafia’s intervention.
“Actually, the decision is easy. If we want to increase supply, we just have to multiply our processing capability. But because of the practices of the mafia that kept us dependent on imports in the past, such a decision has been delayed,” Sudirman said in Jakarta on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has entered its preliminary investigations into the Pertamina Energy Trading Ltd (Petral) case, in which Pertamina was allegedly forced to accept crude oil and fuel supplies at uncompetitive prices.
Based on an audit of the company, third parties are suspected to have intervened in the oil and fuel procurement and purchasing process, which was conducted through Petral’s subsidiary, Pertamina Energy Services.
Due to the interference, Pertamina allegedly received crude oil and fuel at uncompetitive prices for years, while any discounts that Pertamina should have enjoyed were stolen by those suspected third parties.
