Indonesia aims to curb subsidized fuel supply

Indonesia plans to curb the supply of subsidized fuel from September this year in a bid to reduce the cost of fuel imports, an official at the mines and energy ministry said. “We are sure that if we don’t curb the supply then subsidized fuel consumption will exceed the budget target that has been agreed by government and parliament,” Evita Legowo, director general of oil and gas at the energy ministry, told reporters. An official at Indonesia’s downstream oil regulator BPH MIGAS said the consumption of subsidized gasoline was estimated to rise to 23.2 million kiloliters in 2010, above a budgeted volume of 21.4 million kiloliters. Subsidized diesel oil consumption is estimated to rise to 13.1 million kiloliter, compared with a budgeted 11.2 million. (June 23, 2010)