TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government's decision to cut fuel subsidies has pushed the public to switch towards foreign-owned public gas stations. In Jakarta, for example, motorists have been observed to flock to Shell and Total gas stations to purchase fuel.

Rahmat, a 30-year-old employee in Kuningan, said that he began to re-fuel at Total gas stations since the government announced its plan to increase the price of Premium—a brand of subsidized fuel marketed by state oil and gas company Pertamina.

"Initially, I switched to Pertamax, but since the price difference between Pertamax and its equivalent at Total is rather minimal, I decided to completely switch to Total," said Rahmat on Tuesday, December 2, 2014.

Iis Wulandari, a Total gas station attendant on Jl. Kapten Tendean, admits that the number of customers has indeed spiked. "On Friday last week, it felt like I was working at a Pertamina gas station. The queues were so long it overflowed to the streets," she said, adding that the amount of customers has rocketed by at least 95 percent, especially in the morning and evening.

Similar observations were made by the manager of Shell gas station on Jl. Kapten Tendean, Reyza Arief, although he declined to detail the increase in sales volume at his gas station. Based on Tempo observation, sales occur by the minute at Shell's outlets, while Total scores one sale every two to five minutes.

TRI SUSANTO SETIAWAN