Jakarta. State-owned oil company Pertamina retains the price of subsidized fuel product Pertalite below Rp 8,000 (55 US cents) per liter despite surging crude oil prices and a major disruption in global energy supplies due to Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine.

In most parts of the country, the 90 octane gasoline sells at Rp 7,650 a liter while other brands of a similar octane level are priced between Rp 8,900 and Rp 11,990.

“We must stabilize the price of Pertalite which makes up a vast majority of vehicle fuel consumption here,” Mulyanto, a member of the House of Representatives energy commission, said on Tuesday.

He said a hike in Pertalite price would easily drive up inflation and weaken people’s purchase power.

Pertamina’s trading arm Patra Niaga has announced that the last time Pertalite price saw a hike was in January 2019. 

Pertalite accounts for 52 percent of the national vehicle fuel consumption, while Pertamina’s non-subsidized fuel products like Pertamax and Pertadex brands have a 13 percent share, according to company data.

Montty Girianna, a deputy for the chief economic minister, said earlier that the government will retain Pertalite’s current price until at least the next six months although it’s already well below the production cost.