The Indonesian state-owned oil company Pertamina intends to increase in 2024 the ethanol content in its oil products. In 2024, Pertamina plans to blend 7% ethanol with its 90-octane gasoline brand Pertalite, enhancing fuel quality. Additionally, the company aims to raise the ethanol blend in another fuel product, Pertamax Green 95, from 5% to 8%. The ethanol will be imported due to limited domestic production from sugar molasses. The move is expected to improve emissions and fuel quality, while it remains uncertain how this might affect Indonesia's fuel subsidies. The country's objective of expanding sugarcane cultivation is anticipated to aid in producing more ethanol for fuel.
In July 2023, Pertamina started selling gasoline containing 5% of bioethanol made from sugarcane molasses in two cities (Jakarta and Surabaya). Indonesia has successfully already a mandatory 35% palm oil blend in its biodiesel. However, the implementation of a biofuel mix in gasoline has encountered setbacks due to limited ethanol supply. Nonetheless, the country intends to gradually raise the bioethanol content in gasoline to 15% and intends to adopt this fuel nationwide by the year 2031. The share of biofuels in road transport fuel consumption rose from less than 1% in 2010 to around 15% in 2022.