RI fuel consumption seen to grow three to four percent this year

Indonesia's fuel consumption was seen to increase between three to four percent this year as the country was recovering from the economic crisis, state oil and gas company Pertamina said on Thursday.

Pertamina's processing director A Nawawi said in his speech during the Indonesian International Oil, Gas and Energy Conference and Exhibition (IIOGE) that the country's fuel consumption for the fiscal year of 1999/2000 had recovered to the level of 1997/1998 when the country had yet experience the worst phase of the economic crisis.

He said domestic fuel consumption reached 53 million kiloliters in the fiscal year of 1997/1998, an eight percent increase from the previous fiscal year, despite the economic crisis, which hit the country in the middle of 1997.

Domestic fuel consumption sharply declined to 49 kiloliters in the fiscal year of 1998/1999 when the economic crisis was aggravated by the political turmoil following the downfall of then President Soeharto in the middle of 1998.

He said in 1997/1998, diesel oil accounted for 40 percent of domestic fuel consumption, gasoline 22 percent, kerosene 20 percent and other types of fuel 18 percent.

He said Pertamina operates seven fuel refineries cross the country with the processing capacity of 1 million barrels of per day, but the refineries could only meet about 80 percent of the domestic demand Pertamina imports fuel to meet the remaining 20 percent domestic demand. (*)