Pertamina gets 14 percent margin from the sales of subsidized fuels

The government has decided to give state owned oil and gas company Pertamina a margin of between Rp 405 and Rp 749 per liter or about 14.1 percent from the sales of subsidized fuels in the country, Bisnis Indonesia reported Monday.

"The minister of energy and mineral resources fixed the margin in the rupiah, not in percentage of the Mid Oil Platt's Singapore (MOPS) price index. But based in our calculation, the percentage of the margin is about 14.1 percent of the MOPS, the base price of the subsidized fuels," said Iin Arifin Takhyan, the deputy director of Pertamina.

According to Arifin, the percentage of the margin which includes sales margin and distribution cost, is still below the 15 percent stipulated in the Presidential decree.

The amount of the margin given to Pertamina is different from one to another distribution areas. For the sales of subsidized fuels in Sumatra, Pertamina, for example, receives a margin of Rp 599 per liter from Premium oil , Rp 603 per litter from diesel oil and Rp 405 per liter from kerosene. (*)