TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Senior Vice President of Fuel Marketing and Distribution Division of state-owned oil and gas enterprise PT Pertamina (Persero) Suhartoko said that the consumption of Pertamax (non-subsidized fuel) after the increase of subsidized fuel price has surged twofold or risen by 100 percent.

"Usually, the consumption of Pertamax is 2,200 kiloliter per day. However, it is now 4,000 kiloliter per day,” Suhartoko said on Sunday, November 30, 2014.

He also said that consumption of Pertamax on working days could be higher with the highest consumption recorded on Tuesday, November 25, 2014 with the consumption reaching 6,081 kiloliter.

Furthermore, to anticipate the surge in Pertamax consumption in the future, Suhartook said that PT. Pertamina has increased by four times the supply of Pertamax at the storage facilities. Thus, Suhartoko said, Pertamina is ready to supply Pertamax until 8.000 kiloliter per day.

Unlike consumption of Pertamax, consumption of subsidized fuel has continued to drop. According to Suhartoko, usually, consumption of subsidized fuel reaches 81,000 kiloliter per day; however, the average consumption has now dropped to 72,000 kiloliter per day.

Nevertheless, despite the drop in subsidized oil consumption, Suhartoko said that the consumption of subsidized oil until the end of the year would still exceed the quota that has been set because the average consumption premium should have been reduced to 65,000 kiloliter per day so that the supply for 39 days can be sufficient.

Consumption of solar has also dropped by 34,000 to 35,000 kiloliter per day, from the previous 41,000 kiloliter per day.

"With the current consumption of subsidized fuel and solar, there’s a surplus of quota of 1.6 million kiloliter,” Suhartoko said.

GUSTIDHA BUDIARTIE