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The local arms of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. and Malaysian state
oil and gas firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (Petronas) are to open gas
stations selling unsubsidized gasoline outside Java later this year, an
official says.
Erie Sudarmo, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's director for
the downstream sector, said Monday that the ministry was in the process
of examining the license applications submitted earlier by the two
foreign-based oil companies.
He declined to mention the specific locations and investments involved,
saying the plans were still at the preliminary stages.
Fathia Syarif, Shell media and external relations manager, told The
Jakarta Post on Friday that the firm had been conducting studies on
several possible locations outside Java.
"It all depends on accessibility to fuel supplies. We want to build gas
stations in places where fuel supplies are secure," Fathia said, while
also refraining from identifying possible locations.
Shell global vice president for retail marketing, Bruce Rosengarten,
said recently during a ceremony marking the opening of the firm's 10th
gas station that provinces like Sumatra and Bali were likely locations
where the oil giant would open new retail outlets, in addition to more
new gas stations in West Java and East Java.
The 10 gas stations currently operated by Shell are all located in
Greater Jakarta.
At present, the company has only one storage terminal, which is located
in Merak, Banten, and 10 filling stations in the greater Jakarta area.
Shell was the first foreign-based oil company to enter Indonesia's
retail gasoline market following the liberalization of the sector in
2005, which ended the long-running monopoly enjoyed by state oil and
gas firm PT Pertamina.
However, Pertamina still holds a monopoly over the sale of subsidized
oil-based fuels.
Petronas arrived in the Indonesian market shortly after Shell, opening
a gas station in Cibubur, East Jakarta, in December 2005. The Malaysian
firm currently operates two gas stations and plans to open 21 more this
year in Jakarta and its hinterland, including Bogor, Tangerang, Depok
and Bekasi.
Petronas could not be reached for comment in relation to its plans to
open gas stations outside Java.
Shell has said it is planning to open 400 gas stations over a period of
eight years, while Petronas says it wants to open 200 outlets within
five years.
Pertamina and its agents currently operate about 3,000 gas stations
across the country.
The competition in the gasoline market is set to intensify as other
companies -- U.S-based energy firm PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia,
Paris-based oil company Total E&P Indonesie and Indonesia's largest
publicly traded oil company, PT Medco Energi Internasional -- are
currently in the process of securing the necessary licenses from the
government.
Pertamina still holds a monopoly over the distribution of subsidized
oil-based fuels as it is the only firm that meets the government's
requirement of having a network of gas station both on Java island and
outside Java.
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