National fuel demand drops sharply following price increase

State owned oil and gas company Pertamina has significantly reduced the national fuel supply due to a sharp drop in fuel demand following the increase in fuel prices on Saturday.

The daily national fuel supply dropped significantly to 68,000 kiloliters (68 million liters) on Saturday and Sunday from 233,000 kiloliters a day during the week before the increase in the fuel prices.

"The daily fuel supply will likely remain at 68,000 kilolitres within the next four days," Pertamina's spokesman Abadi Purnomo said.

The demand for fuel in the country rose sharply last week due to rush behavior of the public prior to the increase in the fuel prices. Many gas stations were closed due to the shortages of fuel supply.

He also said that Pertamina would seek additional fuel supply of about 400,000 barrels from the international market to meet the minimum fuel supply requirement for October. "We have yet to find the required fuel but we are sure the fuel delivery for October will have no problem," he added.

Pertamina, he added, would import about 14 million barrels of fuel for November delivery, about 60 percent of the total would be purchased from Kuwait, while the remaining 40 percent would be procured from spot markets. (dino)