Old report falsely shared as Indonesia plans to ‘ditch cheap gas’

Indonesia’s state oil company said on Aug. 1 that it had not received orders to stop selling a cheap brand of gasoline, contrary to social media posts that claimed gasoline would be withdrawn from gas stations that month. The posts shared a report originally aired in January that quoted a minister saying he was open to removing Pertalite from the market, without specifying when the proposed changes would come into effect.

“Pertalite is discontinued in August 2024. Get ready. Everything will be expensive in 2024,” read the Indonesian text overlay on a Post on TikTok from May 22nd.

The Indonesian government subsidizes the price of pertalite, making it one of the cheapest fuels for the country’s ubiquitous motorbikes and motorcycle taxis, known as ojek.

In the TikTok video, an anchor says that Pertalite will be retired in August 2024 and replaced with Pertamax Green, which is considered a more environmentally friendly alternative.

Indonesia for years considered abandoning Pertalite, citing concerns about pollution from its congested roads and an effort to reduce oil imports.

But the plan is unpopular, with many arguing that removing relatively cheap gasoline from pumps would increase the price of running motorbikes and cars for millions of Indonesians.

In July, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, said the government would impose “restrictions” on the sale of Pertalite, without giving further details.

This did not stop posts from stating that Pertalite would be stopped from spreading TikTok, SnackVideo and X.

Some social media users appeared to believe the claim.

“People’s hard work is caught up in a very difficult economy,” commented one of them, adding that the products should be “cheap”.

“It happened, there’s no need to regret it, that’s what they voted for,” wrote another, apparently referring to Indonesia’s presidential elections in February.

‘Still supplying’ Pertalita

A spokesman for Indonesian state oil company Pertamina – which distributes Pertalite – said the posts were unfounded.

Fadjar Santoso, head of Pertamina’s public communications department, said the company had not received any order to stop or limit its sale.

“Pertalite is a subsidized fuel whose authority rests with the government. Until now, Pertamina still has orders to supply pertalite,” he told AFP on August 1.

A keyword search found that the report shared online was originally aired by Indonesian broadcaster BeritaSatu on January 20 (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the misleading posts (left) and the BeritaSatu report (right):

The report covered speculation that Pertalite would be discontinued, quoting Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif as saying he was not opposed to the plan if it did not require extra budget.

He did not mention a specific date when such a plan would take effect.