Pertamina Stands Ready for Expanded B20 Program

The Government’s expanded B20 program which will start on 1 September 2018  makes PT Pertamina (Persero) the centre of attention. The state-owned enterprise is responsible for blending and distributing the B20. Pertamina reaffirmed its commitment to contribute the best in carrying out the program. President Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) Nicke Widyawati said that Pertamina and the other businesses related to the program stand ready give their best effort. “We will do the best. We stand ready to 1 September,” Nicke said after meeting in Ministry of Coordinating Economic Affairs office, Jakarta (29/8/2018). Until this article published, Pertamina hasn’t made any decision on the market price of B20. However, one thing is certain the price will not place a large financial burden on public.  “The point is, we don’t want to burden public with prices. Fortunately, we have the Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDPKS) that has already allocated fund to disburse if there’s a price increase,” Nicke said. Meanwhile, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Ignasius Jonan revealed that Indonesia’s diesel fuel consumption has reached 27 kiloliter per year. However, this September, the B20 mandatory program will be applied to all transportation sector. “This program will contribute around 15 percent of total use of renewable energy,” Jonan said at Balai Kartini, Jakarta (29/8/2018). According to Aprobi’s data, until first semester 2018, Indonesia’s biodiesel export has reached 400 thousand kiloliter. While, the number of current domestic consumption is around 3,2 million kiloliter. The total production of biodiesel is projected to reach 4 million kiloliter. This means, the expansion of the B20 rules will cut diesel fuel import up to 23 million kiloliter. ***