Minister issues new regulation on biodiesel provision

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said has issued new Ministerial Regulation No 29/2015 on the provision of biodiesel in a bid to help achieve the government?s target of 15 percent biodiesel mix in diesel fuel.

The new regulation, which was signed by the minister on September 11, allows diesel fuel distributors such as state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina to directly appoint its suppliers of biodiesel and their respective quota, instead of tender mechanism, starting November of this year.

The Directorate General of New and Renewable Energy at the ministry said in a statement last week that the provision of biodiesel will be held in every six months.

An evaluation team, comprising of related government offices such as the directorate, the ministry, and consumers groups, will also be set up to evaluate the implementation of the biodiesel provision, the statement said.

The government has increased the mandatory biodiesel mix in diesel fuel to 15 percent starting April of this year from 10 percent previously. However, implementation of the policy has been hampered due to the lack of supporting regulations.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak