Pertamina to reduce fuel supply to industry

The state oil and gas firm Pertamina plans to reduce by 5 percent its industrial diesel oil supply to domestic industry starting this month in a bid to help curb the rampant fuel smuggling out of the country, according to Pertamina marketing and logistic director Harry Purnomo.

Harry was quoted by the Bisnis Indonesia daily as saying that the five percent reduction in supply was possible because of the current low season of the country's industrial sector.

Industrial diesel oil is one of the fuel products being smuggled out of the country.

Harry said that there's indication that the fuel product for the industrial sector had been smuggled as demand for the product had increased over the past three years at a time when domestic industrial sector had been crippled by the economic crisis.

He acknowledged, however, that Pertamina had been unable to detect the use of the industrial diesel oil once the product had been delivered to the end user or the industry. (*)