Jakarta –
PT Pertamina (Persero) raised the price of Pertamax fuel from Rp 9,000-9,400/liter to Rp 12,500-13,000/liter. This was done in line with rising world oil prices. Not a few netizens have questioned why when world oil prices drop but fuel prices don’t go down?
Responding to this question, the Head of the Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) of the Ministry of Finance, Febrio Kacaribu, explained that this was because Pertamina had been selling fuel at below the economic price.
“Because our prices at gas stations are almost never above the economic price. So our prices are always below the economic price,” said Febrio in a virtual discussion, Monday (4/4/2022).
It is known that world oil prices fell sharply in early March 2020, even to the point of minus. The fall in world oil prices coincided with the outbreak of the Corona virus (COVID-19).
However, at that time, the price of fuel sold by state-owned oil and gas companies did not decline. What did Febrio say?
“Once in a few months in a certain year in 2020 when the price of oil fell very far, there were several months, but not long after, it returned to the subsidy mechanism, returned to the mechanism that the price given to the community was lower than the economic price,” he explained.
At that time, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) explained that the government was observing global developments related to falling oil prices, as well as considering the condition of domestic energy.
Regarding fuel prices, the Head of the Bureau of Communication, Public Information Services and Cooperation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Agung Pribadi, explained that at that time the government was closely monitoring and evaluating developments in oil prices, including plans to cut OPEC+ oil production.
“Another consideration that has been observed is that the rupiah exchange rate has also weakened and fuel consumption has declined considerably, even in some cities such as Jakarta it has decreased by up to 50%. The government is monitoring this development, where previously JBU (Pertamax cs) fuel prices have been lowered twice in early 2020 “Currently, the price of Indonesian fuel is still one of the cheapest in Southeast Asia and several other countries in the world,” he said quoting the ministry’s official website, Tuesday (21/4/2020).
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