Pertamina will sell green kerosene to householders

State owned oil and gas company Pertamina will formally sell green kerosene to householders beginning July 19 to ensure that the subsidized kerosene will not be bought by industrial users, Neraca reported on Wednesday.

Awi Adil, the spokesman of Pertamina?s III marketing division, said on Tuesday that the trial made between February to June had indicated a good result. "With the new color, the sales of subsidized kerosene could be reduced by between five and 10 percent," he added.

The kerosene sold to householders is cheaper than those sold to industrial users. This has caused widespread smuggling activities particularly by industrial users.

He said that Pertamina uses Octel Identification Marker to color the kerosene sold to householders while those sold to industrial users carried no color. Although the state oil and gas company has to make extra payment for the color, the additional cost is not significant, Awi said.

Pertamina sells about 11,000 kiloliters kerosene per day for household users. About 8,000 of the total are supplied by Pertamina?s Pelumpang distribution unit, and the remainder by the Padalarang distribution unit. (*)