TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif meet with legislators and said that the Ministry will take a number of steps to mitigate the effects of rising global oil prices.

"The global political situation has caused an increase in global oil prices where ICP [Indonesian Crude Price] average up to March 2022 reached USD98.4/barrel," said the Minister in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VII legislators on Wednesday, April 13, 2022.

The ICP, he said, has deviated off from the government's State Budget assumption of USD63/barrel. Currently, Aramco ICP for LPG has reached USD839.6/metric ton, which has exceeded the government's prediction of USD569/metric ton.

Short-term steps that will be taken by the ESDM Ministry, Arifin added, are to maintain fuel supply as a direct response to the rising oil prices during the holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr through observation of the use of fuel and prevent the misuse of fuel by maximizing gas station digitization.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has also pitched an idea that would see changes being made to the quota of certain types of fuel to be adjusted to match the economics of the market. Mid-term plans involve the ministry increasing operational supply from 21 days to 30 days.

MUHAMMAD HENDARTYO