Pertamina proposes new fuel price table

The East Kalimantan office of the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has proposed the following fuel price increase, based on the government plans to raise fuel prices next month by an average of 12 percent, the local Kaltim Post daily reported on Thursday.

Under the Pertamina East Kalimantan office proposal, the price of premium gasoline is raised to Rp 1,150 per liter from the current price level of Rp 1,000 per liter. The price of kerosene raised to Rp 350 per liter from Rp 280, the price of automotive diesel to Rp 600 per liter from Rp 550, the price of industrial diesel to Rp 550 per liter from Rp 500, and the price of marine fuel to Rp 400 per liter from Rp 350.

But Kaltim Post quoted head of the Pertamina East Kalimantan office Eddysyah as saying that the new price list could always be revised by the central government.

The government has said that it would reduce the fuel subsidy, thus raising the price of the commodity, in a bid to help ease the burden of the state budget. The move is also aimed at reducing the price discrepancy between domestic price and international price. The heavily-subsidized domestic fuel products have caused massive smuggling of the commodity out of the country. (*)