Divya Karyza, Jakarta – Indonesia will ban sales of its two most-polluting grades of gasoline, RON-88 and RON-89, starting Jan. 1 next year.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry on Oct. 11 finally passed Energy Ministerial Decree No. 245/2022, which revised Energy Ministerial Decree No. 62/2022 on the price formula to calculate the retail price of gasoline and diesel distributed in gas stations.
Saleh Abdurrahman, a member of the Downstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BPH Migas), said that the ban aimed to encourage the use of fuel with higher octane numbers and reduce pollution.
"It has been confirmed [...] we have finished reviewing [the stipulation] with the technical team," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday when asked for confirmation regarding the sales ban on gasoline with RON levels below 90 starting early next year.
State-owned oil giant Pertamina's RON-88 Premium and oil and gas company PT Vivo Energy Indonesia's RON-89 Revvo 89 brands, both still available on the market, fall into the category.
Jakarta previously planned to ban sales of RON-88 and RON-90 – both of which fall short of Euro IV specifications – in 2022 to lower the country's carbon emissions and narrow its fiscal deficit.
However, the government then backtracked from the original plan, announcing that only RON-88 and RON-89 would be banned while RON-90 sales would continue indefinitely during the transition period.
Euro IV-compliant gasoline distributed by Pertamina includes RON-92 Pertamax and RON-98 Pertamax Turbo, while other oil and gas companies, such as Vivo, British Petroleum (BP) and Shell, distribute RON-95 Revvo 95, BP 95 and Shell V Power, respectively.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry issued a regulation in 2017 mandating that Indonesia move to fuel with an octane level of at least 91, which would rule out the use of both Premium and RON-90 Pertalite, due to environmental concerns and to catch up with fuel standards in other countries.