Subsidized Fuel Consumption Might Fall Short Of Allocated Quota

Jakarta, Oct 7 (Antara) - The Indonesian government has predicted that this year`s subsidized fuel consumption might fall short of the quota of 48 million kiloliters, which was set in the revised 2013 state budget. Subsidized fuel consumption is expected to touch 47.4 to 47.5 million kiloliters by the end of this year, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Susilo Siswoutomo stated on Monday. He added that subsidized diesel oil consumption was likely to exceed its quota. However, subsidized gasoline and kerosene consumption would stay within the allocated quota. Siswoutomo attributed the decline in subsidized fuel consumption this year to a fuel price hike, the gasoline-to-biodiesel conversion program and a crackdown on the illegal use of subsidized fuels. Muchamad Iskandar, Vice President for Fuel Retail Marketing at state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina, pointed out that subsidized fuel consumption had reached 34.3 million kiloliters by September this year, up by 1 million kiloliters from 33.3 million kiloliters in the same period last year. Subsidized gasoline consumption till September recorded a 4.4 percent increase to 21.82 million kiloliters, up from 20.9 million kiloliters in the same period last year, Siswoutomo said. However, subsidized kerosene consumption fell by 0.06 percent to 0.83 million kiloliters in the first nine months of this year, compared with 0.88 million kiloliters in the same period last year.