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Premium Test Finds Impurities at Indonesia's State Owned Gasoline Pumps
Faisal Maliki Baskoro | July 31, 2010

PT Pertamina, the state oil and gas company, is facing renewed pressure to investigate the quality of its fuel after a non-governmental organization performed tests, allegedly finding impurities, water and mud. (SP Photo) PT Pertamina, the state oil and gas company, is facing renewed pressure to investigate the quality of its fuel after a non-governmental organization performed tests, allegedly finding impurities, water and mud. (SP Photo)
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peterR
8:38am Aug 2, 2010

Karen Agustiawan is the stupid cow who made the statement: “Whoever thinks that our Premium fuel is bad can go ahead and prove it. But if it turns out that Pertamina is right and they are wrong, I will sue them,” she said.

Kind of attitude that holds back a company. She is responsible for a lot, including deaths, sack her and prosecute her for negligence.

Valkyrie
6:27pm Aug 1, 2010

Jeanne - Karen to show her balls? Ha! Ha! Nevertheless...I know what you meant and you said it quite well! Me, I would tell her to put her best front as forward as possible and huff and puff.....fire her production buffoon.

And Peter, now that you've mentioned it, the next time I need to make a trip, I'll remember to plead harder with The Almighty for my well being.

As an afterthought, I am wondering whether investigators did give a check on the fuel quality of all the planes that went down? .

Hmmmm....................I doubt they did!


Probo Dj
5:31pm Aug 1, 2010

Jeanne: I'd be surprised if Karen has 'balls'

Vittoria
1:26pm Aug 1, 2010

Of course it was not a surprise that Pertamina would simply claim that their fuel content has met the state regulation because the state regulation itself is never clear cut in the first place. The regulation is such that 'until something wrong is discovered by the public, anything is of satisfactory'. Just keep claiming whatever you all want to because all we can do is to watch from the spectators' benches.

peterR
10:16am Aug 1, 2010

It would seem that Pertamina has a management made up of buffoons that cannot be trusted. How they get their jobs is very questionable. First exploding gas canisters - "this has nothing to do with us it is our suppliers/agents", now dirty fuel that is costing motorists dearly - "this has nothing to do with us it is our suppliers/agents", and "we will sue anybody who questions us".

Well I have a question. What about Pertamina's aviation fuel department: can we be certain that planes will not start dropping out of the sky because of their corrupted management and the governments inability to maintain a control over this State owned cash cow?

No-doubt SBY will soon be issuing the bog standard statement, "this is a terrible thing. I am very upset by this and I want it investigated immediately, but I cannot get personally involved. I trust the management of Pertamina to be professional and honest, blah de, blah, blah, blah", then never again to have another thought on it.

Jakarta.  PT Pertamina’s Premium fuel distributed in Greater Jakarta is contaminated with substances that have led to the breakdowns of thousands of cars, particularly taxis, according to a study from a non-governmental organization that advocates for clean fuel.

“Based on our research, Pertamina’s Premium fuel in the city may contain zinc, ferrum as well as other sediments such as water and mud,” Ahmad Safrudin, chairman of the Committee Against Leaded Gasoline (KPBB), said on Friday.

The KPBB surveyed 20 auto repair shops in Greater Jakarta and found that seven of them had received complaints of fuel pumps damaged by those substances, he said.

“Zinc coating in Pertamina storage depots may have peeled off and mixed with the fuel,” he said. “Lack of tank cleaning and maintenance of the storage areas may have been the cause for those substances to become mixed with the fuel.”

He urged Pertamina and the government to immediately explain to the public what was wrong with Premium fuel, instead of insisting that the state energy company was not at fault.

Pertamina spokesman Basuki Trikora Putra questioned KPBB’s research, calling the accusations baseless and saying the organization’s test results were invalid.

“The directorate general of oil and gas in cooperation with downstream oil and gas regulator BPH Migas are investigating this issue. The investigation is independent and the result will be the official result,” he said.

Basuki said Pertamina had carried out upkeep of its storage tanks and distribution of fuel in accordance with the company’s standard operating procedures.

“We have routine maintenance in our storage depots and refineries,” he said.

“Our fuel has been certified and quality checked. All of this was documented by Pertamina and the government.”

The fuel pump flap began when Jakarta’s biggest taxi company, Blue Bird Group, said 1,200 of its taxis had been affected by impurities in Pertamina’s Premium fuel.

The Express taxi company and Gamya Taxi Group have noted the same problems in its Toyotas and Nissans.

The problem is also affecting auto manufacturer Hyundai, which along with Toyota said it was struggling to meet a sudden surge in demand for fuel pumps.

Gamya on Wednesday threatened to drop Pertamina as its fuel distributor and switch to Shell, a pricier option.

The company said it had suffered Rp 500 million ($56,000) in losses over the past month due to repair costs and lost revenue after fuel pumps malfunctioned on 270 of the company’s vehicles.

Mintarsih Latif, Gamya’s president director, said that independent tests conducted in Thailand at the behest of an automotive distributor found that the sulfur content in Pertamina’s Premium gasoline exceeded normal levels for the fuel.

Last week, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources also launched an investigation of four Pertamina gas stations in Greater Jakarta, but found the premium fuel met government specifications.

Another probe by the Civil Servant Investigators office (PPNS) carried out earlier this week on four gas stations had yet to announce its result.