TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas subsidiary Pertamina Patra Niaga suspects that the long queues for subsidized diesel in several regions are caused by misdirected distribution. But the company did not elaborate further on why it is happening or what measures it will undertake to prevent the shortage from recurring.
Corporate Secretary of Pertamina Patra Niaga, Roberth Dumatubun, told Tempo this while responding to queries about the long queues for subsidized diesel reported in Sumatra. "The suspicion is that the distribution is misdirected," said Roberth in a written message on Friday, July 10, 2026.
Tempo had previously sent a number of questions to Roberth about the signs of diesel shortage, alleged supply reduction to gas stations, distribution evaluation, and mitigation steps to prevent the issue from reoccurring. However, he did not answer these questions.
Over the last month, a shortage of subsidized diesel has been reported in several areas across Sumatra. This has triggered long queues of buses and trucks at gas stations and started to disrupt logistical and intercity transportations (AKAP).
The Secretary General of the Land Transportation Organization (Organda), Kurnia Lesani Adnan, said that reports of long queues are received almost every day from various regioons such as Padang, Bukittinggi, Jambi, Medan, Palembang, and Lampung.
"The diesel shortage has actually been going on for a long time and has always recurred. However, the situation has worsened over the past month," said Adnan.
According to Adnan, the problem is not only happening in Sumatra but also starting to be felt in several areas of Kalimantan and Sulawesi. He believes that the shortage has become more extensive since the implementation of the barcode system through the MyPertamina application.
The system still leaves various problems, ranging from weak supervision, frequently missing barcode quotas, unexplained barcode blocking, and slow central service response to the lack of clear action against barcode misuse.
In addition, Adnan admitted to receiving information from several gas station managers that the received diesel supply did not match the requested volume. For example, a gas station that ordered 32 kiloliters only received about 18 kiloliters with an unclear delivery schedule.
Adnan also suspected that shortages occur more frequently in areas with large-scale mining and plantation activities. "We suspect that the distribution is misdirected. There are indications," he said.
Echoing Organda's statement, the Secretary General of the Indonesian Logistics and Forwarders Association (ALFI), Trismawan Sanjaya, said that the shortage of subsidized diesel for cargo transportation has been going on for years, especially in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and several areas of eastern Indonesia.
According to Trismawan, the issue is caused by several factors, including alleged misuse of subsidized diesel due to the significant price difference with non-subsidized diesel, limited gas station infrastructure to serve logistical vehicles, and a distribution system that is considered inefficient.
"In Sumatra and Java, the development of industrial and commercial centers has led to an increased number of cargo transportation vehicles that require more fuel," said Trismawan.
Read: Pertamina Lowers Prices for Non-Subsidized Fuel Products
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