The Indonesian government will require fuel retailers to sell biodiesel blended fuels from September 1 in a bid to save billions of dollars in diesel imports.
Currently, only subsidized diesel users are mandated to use biodiesel, but with the biodiesel expansion program, which Indonesian President Joko Widodo considers urgent, non-Public Service Obligation sectors such as the mining industry may also be mandated to use B20, according to S&P Global Platts. B20 is 20% biodiesel blended into regular diesel.
Non-compliant petrol stations will be fined, according to Reuters.
With the new policy, biodiesel consumption in 2019 is set to increase to 6 million-6.2 million kilolitres (KL) from an estimated 4 million KL this year, saving around $1.55 billion in gasoil imports.
