TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has established 11 public fuel refilling stations (SBPUs) to sell its new product, Octane 90 Pertalite, in Jakarta as demand for the product is on the rise.

Vice President of Corporate Communications of Pertamina Wiando Pusponegoro said on Saturday that four each of the 11 SBPUs are located in Depok and South Jakarta and three in Cimahi.

Depok is a satellite city of Jakarta, while Cimahi is a buffer city of West Java's provincial capital of Bandung.

"The outlets began to be supplied with Pertalite in stages from Thursday, July 30, and over the weekend, they are expected to begin serving consumers," she added.

Till July 30, Pertamina sold 2.1 thousand kiloliters of Pertalite, with demand continuing to witness an upward trend.

With the additional 11 SPBUs, the total number of outlets in the country selling Pertalite has reached 112 units. Pertamina will continue to increase the number of refilling stations based on people's increasing need for the fuel.

PT Pertamina started to launch trial sales of its new Pertalite fuel at 101 SBPUs in the cities of Jakarta and Bandung, where there were 68 SBPUs, and Surabaya, where there were 33, on Friday, July 24.

Pertalite is being introduced to offer an alternative to motorists who want to use quality fuel with higher octane value than Premium gasoline(Research Octane Number/RON 88) but at a lower price than that of Pertamax (RON 92).

With Octane 90 Pertalite, combustion in engines of vehicles is more efficient, as Pertalite is suitable for cars manufactured with the latest technology and is far better than Premium gasoline, RON 88. Therefore, Pertalite is more environmentally friendly than Premium and makesmachines more fuel-efficient.

With regard to the demand to expand the supply of Pertalite to regions beyond these three cities, Pusponegoro affirmed that it will be done in the coming months.

However, it will be adjusted after taking into account Pertalite's stocks in Plumpang, Jakarta.

"We are ready to launch the product in other regions, but we want to first focus on the 101 SBPUs in the three cities. We should prevent a situation where demand for the fuel is high and we cannot meet it," she remarked.

Furthermore, President Director of Pertamina Dwi Sutjipto noted on Monday that his company was ready to increase the supply of Pertalite in the market if demand for the new type of fuel continued to increase.

"Additional supplies will be adjusted to the developments in the market. We are still launching the trial sales. We will evaluate it. So far, the market response has been good, and consumers have welcomed it," Sutjipto pointed out during a post-fasting gathering at the office of the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises on Monday, July 27.

ANTARA