Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said stated here on Wednesday that the government had shortened the fuel pricing period to biweekly from monthly as originally planned.
"We have observed a drastic drop in the prices of fuel oils and LPG. On Friday, we will announce the new prices of fuel oils and LPG," he affirmed.
State oil and gas company PT Pertamina has forecast that the price of subsidized premium gasoline may fall to below Rp seven thousand per liter from February, following a persistent drop in global oil prices.
"With the current price trend, the price of premium gasoline may decline by more than Rp six hundred to below Rp seven thousand per liter," Pertamina Marketing and Commercial Director Ahmad Bambang remarked here on Monday.
Oil prices stood at around US$50 per barrel and fuel products in Singapore, according to the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), reached US$60 per barrel from December 25, he stated.
"Every drop in MOPS by US$1 per barrel may cause the price of fuel to fall by Rp50 per liter. However, this depends on the rupiahs exchange rate against the dollar," Bambang remarked.
Under the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministers Regulation Number 39/2014, the price of subsidized premium gasoline fell to Rp7.6 thousand from Rp8.5 thousand per liter from January 1.
The price of premium gasoline follows the market prices.
The new price of premium gasoline refers to MOPS at US$73 per barrel and the rupiahs exchange rate at Rp12,380 per dollar from November 25 to December 24.
On Monday, the oil price hit a 5.5-year record low in the Asian trading.
The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude oil for the February 2015 shipment fell 81 cents to US$47.55 per barrel and the price of Brent crude oil dropped 90 cents to US$49.21 per barrel.
Analysts have forecast that the prices of WTI and Brent crude oil will hit record lows of US$45 and US$48 per dollar, respectively, this week.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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