Pertamina suffered a loss of Rp6.3 trillion from the sale of Premium fuels from January to December, 2015.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina said sales of its Premium gasoline and diesel fuel in the first three months of this year were able to cover the losses it suffered on account of sales of the same fuels in 2015.
"The losses we suffered due to subsidized Premium and diesel fuel sales in 2015 have now been covered by the sales proceeds of the same fuels in 2016," Pertamina Marketing and Commercial Director, Ahmad Bambang, said after a discussion at the Royal Hotel here on Tuesday.
Pertamina suffered a loss of Rp6.3 trillion from the sale of Premium fuels from January to December, 2015.
Pertamina reported the profit it earned in the first three months to the government through the directorate general for oil and gas of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
It will be audited by the State Audit Board (BPK).
"I have reported the profit to the directorate general of oil and gas. It will be audited by the BPK and will be announced by the government," Bambang noted.
The prices of fuels sold at the refueling stations (SBPUs) now are set at Rp7,050 per liter for Premium and Rp5,650 per liter for diesel oil. The prices were claimed to have been set above their economic viability.
Data at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources showed that the price of Premium remained below Rp5,000 per liter since December 2015 and that of diesel oil below Rp4,000 per liter.
The economic viability of Premium reached its lowest point at Rp4,800 per liter on February 3, 2016.
Bambang said on Tuesday that Pertamina will cut the prices of non-subsidized or non-public service obligation (non-PSO) fuels by Rp200 per liter, effective from March 30.
"We will lower the prices of all non-PSO fuel products such as Pertalite to Rp7.1 thousand per liter and Pertamax to Rp7.5 thousand per liter," he said.
The prices of non-PSO fuels such as Pertalite, Pertamax 92, Pertamax Plus, and Pertamina Dex will be lowered before the prices of subsidized fuels such as Premium gasoline and diesel oil are adjusted. Premium fuels new prices will be effective from April 1, 2016.
Bambang said his company would also release large stocks of non-PSO fuels as an alternative option in case the supplies of Premium and diesel fuel ran out as a result of introduction of new prices on April 1.
"We will start releasing non-PSO stocks from tomorrow, and keep the storage tanks full. So, even if we run out of Premium stock when the price is announced, alternative stocks will be available," the Pertamina marketing director explained.
Bambang expressed the hope that the prices of non-PSO fuels, such as Premium and diesel oil, would not be drastically reduced as many have forecast the global oil prices to rebound in the coming several months.
"We propose that the prices (of subsidized fuels) should be lowered, but not too significantly, so that there are no problems if these are not raised by next July. There is no problem if Pertamina suffers losses for the time being. It is within the governments authority to decide that. But I see that people want stability. Prices could be lowered or raised but not to a large extent," Bambang affirmed.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
