President Prabowo Subianto Discusses Energy Security, Downstreaming with ESDM Minister to Guarantee Energy Price Stability

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia delivers a press statement at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday (06/11)

President Prabowo Subianto Thursday (06/11) summoned the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia to the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

As stated by Bahlil, the President delivered directives to the Government to consistently strengthen national energy security by accelerating the development of alternative energy sources.

“We held a meeting to discuss the energy and downstreaming sectors. Coincidentally, we are also seeing ongoing geopolitical developments. The President then instructed us to immediately look for alternative energy sources,” stated Bahlil in his statement.

According to Bahlil, the Government is focusing on several priority agendas. One of them is the accelerated transition program from Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as part of the national energy supply diversification strategy.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the meeting addressed data collection in the mining sector to ensure better governance, as well as evaluating the readiness of the national energy supply, both in terms of electricity and fuel (BBM) availability.

“Currently, our focus is on expediting the LPG-to-CNG transition. The second is mining data collection. And third, the readiness in the PLN energy sector and our fuel availability,” he added.

On that occasion, Bahlil further underscored that the Government guarantees there will be no price changes for subsidized fuel or subsidized LPG. This policy was adopted to maintain public purchasing power amid global economic challenges.

“We would like to convey that the prices of subsidized fuel and LPG remain unchanged. That is [the priority] for now. Meanwhile, non-subsidized prices will adjust to current market prices,” he affirmed.

“The Government is currently working on matters related to maintaining public purchasing power. Therefore, we are not raising prices for subsidized fuel at all. Meanwhile, the price adjustments are being made for [non-subsidized energy],” he continued.

Regarding the electricity condition in several regions, Bahlil explained that the coal supply for national power plants is secured.

“Claims on coal shortage are untrue, as our assignment has reached 170 million tons. I admit that there are some issues with several machines as reported by PLN, but we will repair them as soon as possible,” he concluded.

By strengthening energy security, accelerating downstreaming, diversifying energy sources, and protecting public purchasing power, President Prabowo reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to maintaining the stability of the national energy supply while strengthening the foundations of the Indonesia’s economic toward long-term independence and resilience. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (NST/LW)