Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Minister Ignasius Jonan said that the government will not raise the prices of fuel oils and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from July 1 to Sept 30, 2017.
The ESDM Ministry stated in a press statement here on Tuesday that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had announced that the prices of Premium gasoline and diesel oil will not increase from July 1, 2017. The prices will not be raised due to the downward trend in the worlds crude price.
Jonan had earlier noted that the prices of Premium gasoline and diesel oil will be evaluated after post-fasting Lebaran festivities. "We will evaluate the developments of Ron 88 premium gasoline and diesel oil after Lebaran in July," Jonan remarked in Jakarta on June 5.
Based on data at the ESDM ministry, the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) fell to US$43.66 per barrel in June 2017.
The decline in ICP was triggered by the decline in world crude prices. The average price of Brent oil in June 2017 was $47.55 per barrel, down from the previous months price of $51.39 per barrel.
Similarly, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil fell to $45.20 per barrel in June 2017 compared to $48.54 per barrel in the previous month.
The decline in world oil prices is caused by several factors; Energy Information Administration (EIA) - USA report stated that US gasoline and distillate fuel oil stock levels increased in June 2017 compared to May 2017, while gasoline stock rose 4 million barrels to 241 million barrels in June 2017 and distillate fuel oil stock rose 5.3 million barrels to 152.3 million barrels in July 2016.
Based on Baker Hughes Incorporated Data, there was an increase in the number of rig counts in the United States to 33 rigs compared to the previous month of 941 rigs in June 2017.
Furthermore, there was a turnaround in refineries in Japan and the declining trend of Japanese crude oil demand growth. Additionally, based on the IEA publication, there was a decrease in demand for crude oil products in South Korea and China.
The price of ICP from Jan-June 2017 is as follows:
It was recorded at $51.88 per barrel in Jan 2017, $52.50 US per barrel in Feb, and $48.71 per barrel in March, $49.56 per barrel in April, $47.09 per barrel in May, and $43.66 per barrel in June 2017.(*)
