Govt to remove Pertamina's monopoly on imports of LPG and lubricant

The government will soon remove a Presidential decree that gives state owned oil company Pertamina the monopoly on imports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and lubricant, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro has said.

"With the removal of Pertamina's monopoly, we hope prices of LPG and lubricant will be more competitive," the minister was quoted as saying by Astaga.com on Thursday.

But the minister said that his office has yet to decide when the new policy would be adopted as the plan was still being assessed by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Director General of Oil and Gas Rachmat Sudibyo said that if the decree was removed, the Ministry of Finance should then decide again the level of the import tariffs on lubricant. (*)