Pertamina stops producing leaded gasoline

State owned oil and gas company Pertamina has finally stopped producing leaded gasoline, which had sparked hazardous air pollution, particularly in urban areas because it was mostly consumed by the transportation sector, The Jakarta Post reported Thursday.

Division head of Pertamina's technical services Rusdi Erwin said here on Wednesday that his company has stopped producing leaded gasoline in all oil refineries in all over the country since July 1.

"All stocks of leaded gasoline is expected to run out this year. Therefore, we will only sell free lead gasoline next year," he was speaking at a dialog on energy alternative organized by State Ministry for Environment and the Committee for Leaded Gasoline Phaseout (KPBB).

According to Rusdi, Pertamina has to spend additional cost of US$5 to produce each barrel of unleaded gasoline because new octane booster to replace lead is more expensive.

He said Pertamina has now carried out tender to procure cheaper octane booster for gasoline. "We hope that the new octane booster will be available in November," Rusdi said. (*)