Pertamina sees higher consumption of subsidized fuel

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina said that there has been higher consumption of subsidized premium gasoline and automotive diesel during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period of last year.

The company said in a statement Monday that as of end of March, 11.2 million kilo liters of subsidized fuel products have been distributed, accounting for 23.6 percent of the quota set in the 2014 State Budget.

Vice President for Corporate Communications at PT Pertamina, Ali Mundakir said that the realized volume in the first quarter was 1.6 percent higher than the realized volume in the same period of last year. He said that the higher volume was contributed by stronger consumption of premium gasoline and automotive diesel.

Meanwhile, the realized distribution of kerosene as of end of March reached 249,000 kilo liters, or 9.89 percent lower than the same period of last year, thanks to the successful program for households to convert to the use of 3-kg LPG from kerosene.

Elsewhere, Ali said that Pertamina?s fuel stock remains safe with average stock sufficient for 20.73 days of supply.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak