"The 2,704 SBPUs are now ready to sell pertamax," spokesman of state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina, M Harun, said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A total of 2,704 gasoline refueling stations (SPBU) are now ready to implement the government`s program to cut consumption of subsidized premium gasoline beginning on April 1, 2012, an official said.

Spokesman of state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina, M Harun, said here on Friday with 2,704 SPBUs now ready to execute the subsidized premium consumption reduction program, the target of having 2,500 such stations at the end of 2011 was considerably surpassed.

"The 2,704 SBPUs are now ready to sell pertamax," he said.

He said that in 2010, the number of SPBUs which sold pertamax was only 1,686. Of the 3,061 SBPUs in Java and Bali, 2,065 were selling Pertamax, 700 had the potential capability to convert their tanks to receive Pertamax and 296 others still needed new investment.

In Sumatra, of the 1,037 existing refueling stations, 351 had been selling Pertamax, 470 had the potential to covert their tanks and 216 others needed new investment.

Of the 567 SBPUs in Kalimantan and Sulawesi, 264 had been selling Pertamax, 167 can convert tanks and 136 others still needed new investment.

"In total, including SBPUs in Nusa Tenggara, the number of SPBUs which have been selling Pertamax nation-wide reaches 2,074," Harun said.

He said that the investment needed to build 296 SPBUs reached Rp255 billion or Rp393 million per SPBU.

Harun said the needed capacity of tanks to contain Pertamax (when the subsidized premium gasoline consumption reduction policy is implemented) was estimated at 343 thousand kiloliters.

The volumes consisted of 157 thousand kiloliters in Jakarta, West Java and Banten, 105 thousand kiloliters in Central Java, Yogyakarta and 81 thousand kiloliters in East Java and Bali.

"At present the capacity of already pertamax tanks in Java and Bali reaches 299 thousand kiloliters or 87 percent of the need," he said.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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