Bahlil's Stern Warning to Private Gas Stations Regarding Fuel Import Quota

KatadataOTO – The import quota for fuel oil (BBM) for public gas stations (SPBU), for the 2026 period has not yet been determined.

However, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has issued a stern warning to Shell, BP AKR, and Vivo.

“Private entities that try to dictate to and defy the state, not obeying state regulations, just you wait,” said Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of ESDM, to Antara on Saturday (20/12).

The statement above was directed at private gas station operators who are considered to be trying to dictate to or defy the state.

Photo: KatadataOTO

Unfortunately, Bahlil Lahadalia did not specify which party he was referring to. He also refused to disclose it.

On the other hand, the aide to President Prabowo Subianto said that for private gas stations deemed to be compliant with regulations, the 2026 fuel import quota has been calculated and will be granted soon.

“For those who are not compliant, I haven't calculated it yet. I will announce it later, it's still being arranged,” Bahlil asserted.

On the other hand, the Ministry of ESDM will also consider the trend of increasing public demand. This is so that the needs of Shell, BP AKR, and Vivo can be met.

They are aware that the phenomenon of purchasing non-subsidized fuel at private gas stations increased in 2025.

“We see that demand is currently high. To this day, demand remains high, but I cannot yet state the percentage (of the quota increase),” said Laode Sulaeman, Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of ESDM.

As reported by KatadataOTO some time ago, the Ministry of ESDM admitted to opening the option to increase the 2026 fuel import quota by 10 percent from the 2025 period.

A similar policy was actually implemented by the government in 2025. They increased the import quota for private gas stations.

However, the aforementioned amount is still considered insufficient, given that throughout this year Vivo, Shell, and BP AKR ran out of fuel stock twice.

Photo: Antara

This forced them to agree to purchase an additional import quota from Pertamina. This allowed them to once again serve public demand.

Therefore, the government is being asked to set a larger quota for next year. This way, there will be no more fuel shortages at private gas stations.

As a reminder, the stock of RON 92 fuel at Shell, BP AKR, and Vivo gas stations slowly began to improve or recover at the end of 2025.