JAKARTA. PT Pertamina (Persero) claims the 30% biodiesel program (B30), which will begin this year, could cut spending on oil import by up to Rp 63.4 trillion.
Nicke Widyawati, Director of Pertamina, said that the estimate was made based on the fact that the 20% biodiesel program (B20) helped to save Rp 43.8 trillion in 2019. He added that the volume and value of oil imports also declined last year, thanks to the B20 program.
"This contributed to the (improvement of the trade) balance deficit," explained Widyawati as quoted by Kontan on Wednesday (29/1) yesterday.
On the other hand, Pertamina projects that in 2020 the absorption of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) can increase significantly. If in 2019 the absorption of FAME reached 5.51 million kiloliters, Pertamina estimated that FAME absorption this year could reach 8.38 million kiloliters. (KR/AR)