Pertalite Still a Notion: Coordinating Minister
21 April 2015 16:12 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said the launch of Pertalite gasoline by state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina was still a notion.
“It is still an idea because we haven’t got the stuff,” he said on the sidelines of the 2015 World Economic Forum East Asia (WEFEA) at Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday, April 21, 2015.
According to Sofyan, replacing Premium gasoline (RON 88) with Pertalite gasoline (RON 90) would call for extra time and thorough considerations. He said the public—particularly of the public transport society—was still clinging to Premium gasoline.
Besides, he added, producing gasoline with RON (registered octane number) higher than Premium’s would require better refineries, whereas most of the countries’ refineries were already old and with non-maximum production. “So there are many hurdles,” he said.
One thing for sure, he added, Pertamina would continue its imports—in transparent fashion—should it decide to produce Pertalite.
“Imports are inevitable, but it was also important to keep an eye on the means they are carried out, who the importers are, and the importing mechanism Pertamina adopts,” he said.
PINGIT ARIA