Under the plan, the government was aiming to collect fees of Rp300 on every liter of diesel oil and Rp200 on every liter of gasoline sold to the public.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government has decided to postpone a plan to start levying an energy security fund on fuel oil to avoid any controversy over it.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said said at the Presidential Office here on Monday that the new fuel oil prices, which will take effect early Tuesday, will not include energy security fees.

Under the plan, the government was aiming to collect fees of Rp300 on every liter of diesel oil and Rp200 on every liter of gasoline sold to the public.

He said the economic price of fuel oil began to increase slightly plummeting significantly for a few days.

Touching on the plan to collect energy security fund, he said fossil fuels will deplete eventually.

"The development of new and renewable energy is far from expectation. We do not have strategic reserves for petroleum. We also need to achieve the target of ensuring that at least 23 percent of Indonesias energy needs are met through new and renewable energy by 2025. The need for new and renewable energy has increasingly become more urgent if we look at the commitment we made at the recent COP21 (Conference of Parties)," he said.

He said nearly 12,000 villages were still to receive adequate power supply, and 2,516 villages were without any electricity.

Therefore, the energy security fund was needed to encourage the development of new and renewable energy, he said.

The energy security fund may come from a premium that can be levied on the use of fossil energy, non-renewable energy or other sources, he said.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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