Pertamina Awaits Government Decision on Pertalite Purchase Limits

PT Pertamina Patra Niaga, the state-owned oil and gas company, is awaiting the government's final decision regarding the policy to limit the purchase of Pertalite fuel oil for middle-income groups, specifically those categorized in desil 9 and 10 based on their economic welfare level. Robert MV Durmatubun, Corporate Secretary of PT Pertamina Patra Niaga, emphasized that as a business entity, his party is ready to implement and secure any policy set by the regulator. "Until now, we are still waiting for sure, because at the government level, we are a business entity that will follow the government's directions. Of course, the spirit that is carried is how to distribute this fuel properly," Robert told the media when met in Cilacap, Central Java, Thursday, September 10. Pertamina has completely handed over the determination of the policy mechanism, whether through the desil approach or other restriction options, to the government. He explained that if the policy is officially implemented, Pertamina will immediately coordinate with the government and related institutions such as the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BPH Migas). Regarding the technical implementation in the field, such as updating the barcode system to detect the community's desil category, Robert stated that his party is still waiting for further instructions. However, he assured that the distribution of subsidized fuel is indeed targeted for people who are entitled and eligible to receive it. The company fully supports the government's efforts to encourage capable groups to switch to non-subsidized fuel. "As long as the spirit is that the community is considered capable of being urged to use non-subsidized energy, and subsidized energy can be well accepted by the community that is entitled, Pertamina will definitely support," he concluded. It is noted that desil 10 refers to the group of households with the highest level of economic well-being, with the community's welfare level divided into 10 desils based on the National Social and Economic Single Data (DTSEN). Previously, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia revealed that the government was still studying the plan to limit Pertalite purchases based on the desil group. Bahlil stated that the plan had not yet become a final policy as the government was still conducting studies, particularly to ensure the validity of the data used to determine subsidy recipients. "It is still being exercised. Because we want the subsidy to be accurate. Well, one way to make the data accurate is to make it valid," Bahlil told the media, Jakarta, Monday, August 31. He added that the validity of data is an important factor so that energy subsidy policies can run according to their goals. The government does not want policies designed to improve targeting accuracy to cause problems during implementation, he explained. "This is what we are checking again. We don't want our expectations to be good but it turns out that in the implementation, because the data is not valid, something that does not meet our expectations," said Bahlil. Source: VOI English