September 20, 2025 | 12:10 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia said he's not ruling out the chance for private companies to build an oil refinery in Indonesia. Bahlil made the statement after holding a meeting on fuel stock at private gas stations owned by Shell, Vivo, and BP AKR on Friday afternoon, September 19, 2025.
"That's the second step. I believe that the entrepreneurs are starting to consider building refineries," said Bahlil.
During the meeting, Bahlil mentioned that private gas stations agreed to buy raw fuel from Pertamina. He explained that pure gasoline or base fuel that has not been blended will be processed by each gas station according to their product specifications.
Fuel shortage has been ongoing in privately owned gas stations since late August, due to the maxed-out import quota for 2025. To address the stock shortage until the end of 2025, the government and the gas station management agreed to use Pertamina's remaining import quota.
Pertamina will import fuel and sell it in the form of base fuel to private gas stations. "It's confirmed because Pertamina's supply is already blended, so this will likely be a new import," said Bahlil.
Pertamina still has a remaining 34 percent import quota, or about 7.52 million kiloliters, which will be sufficient for private gas stations until December 2025, amounting to 571,748 kiloliters.
Bahlil said the import process would be completed within the next seven days, but he couldn't disclose the amount of the import quota to be distributed, as the technical discussions are underway.
Bahlil explained that Pertamina agreed to sell unmixed base fuel products to private gas stations. "This has been approved, and it's the solution," said Bahlil.
Bahlil outlined four main points resulting from the agreement between the government, Pertamina, and private gas stations. First, private gas stations must buy supplies from Pertamina using a base fuel scheme. Previously, Pertamina offered ready-to-use fuel products, but has agreed to sell the raw material.
Second, to ensure quality, a joint inspection will be conducted before delivery by an agreed-upon surveyor from both parties. Third, Bahlil emphasized that the pricing mechanism must be fair. "Both Pertamina and the private sector must open their books so that no party is disadvantaged," he said.
Fourth, Bahlil went on, this agreement takes effect today and will be followed up after a technical meeting. The government targets that within the next seven days, the oil supply from this scheme will be able to enter Indonesia.
On the other hand, Bahlil affirmed that the fuel stock in Pertamina remains safe for another 18 to 21 days. "It's just that the reserves for private gas stations are running out," he said.
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