The new grade of gasoline, called pertalite, has been launched in Indonesia by state-owned energy company Pertamina. On Friday (24/07), this new (unsubsidized) fuel was sold for the first time in the cities Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya for the price of IDR 8,400 (USD $0.62) per liter. Its debut in 101 gas stations across these three cities is a test (lasting for a few weeks) in order to know consumers’ reaction. Pertalite (90-octane level) is the new produced fuel by Pertamina and will gradually replace the low-octane gasoline known as premium.

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Contrary to earlier reports the Indonesian government has not decided yet to completely phase out production and consumption of low-octane gasoline (known as premium) in Indonesia. Last week state-owned energy company Pertamina said that premium, a subsidized fuel that was introduced under the Suharto regime in order to support the population’s purchasing power (by making transportation costs artificially low) would be gradually replaced by 90-octane pertalite, a higher-grade fuel, starting from May 2015.

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After CEO Dwi Soetjipto and Deputy CEO Ahmad Bambang were removed from their posts at Indonesia's state-owned energy company Pertamina there was some confusion what the real reasons behind this move were. In some local media it was even speculated that the removal of both men was related to a corruption case (something that would not be unimaginable in the case of Indonesia, especially when it involves the government and natural resources). However, the real reason for the removal of Soetjipto and Bambang is, seemingly, simply because they couldn't get along with each other and their poor relationship started to impact on Pertamina's operations.

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