Pertamina Boosts Fuel Supply in Makassar as Queues Snarl Traffic
Pertamina has ramped up fuel supplies and extended gas station hours in Makassar, where queues exceeded a kilometre and prompted emergency driving restrictions.
Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina has moved to increase fuel availability in Makassar, the largest city in eastern Indonesia, after queues of more than a kilometre formed outside filling stations over the past week.
The company said it had extended operating hours at its gas stations and raised the volume of subsidised fuel on offer to meet rising demand and shorten the lines. "We apologise for the inconvenience caused. We have implemented various recovery measures and are continuing to strengthen them," Pertamina official Deny Sukendar said in a statement.
Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia attributed the surge in demand to consumers switching to subsidised grades to avoid higher prices driven by the war in the Middle East. "The problem now is that many people who did not originally use subsidised fuel are now switching to it because prices have soared," he said, adding that the shift was visible to some extent in Makassar.
Bahlil pledged that subsidised fuel prices would remain frozen until the end of the year regardless of movements in global markets. "Whatever the global price of fuel may be, we will not increase the price of subsidised fuel," he said.
The shortages have pushed authorities in the city of 2.8 million people to impose emergency driving restrictions, including a work-from-home arrangement for civil servants, in an effort to reduce traffic.
Queues at filling stations across Makassar were still about 100 metres long on Tuesday. On Monday, roughly 150 students and labourers gathered at Pertamina's offices in the city to protest against the shortages.