Bali fuel shortage: limits, prices and status

Is there a fuel shortage in Bali right now?

It was easing in the south at the last report, on 18 October. On 17 October waits in Badung and Denpasar were down to about 15 to 30 minutes. Queues at several stations were getting shorter, but the shortage has not been declared over.^{[1, 2]}

At one Denpasar station the queue fell from about three hours on 16 October to about one hour on 17 October. The province and Pertamina review the rules every day, so the limits below can change at short notice.^{[3, 8]}

Which fuels are running out?

Pertalite ran out first, then Pertamax (higher-octane unsubsidised petrol). Two stations in Negara had no Pertamax Turbo either.^[5]

On 17 October Pertalite was on sale again in Denpasar and Badung under the limits, while some stations had no Pertamax. In Negara, in Jembrana, several stations ran out again by midday. Queues had also reached Tabanan and Gianyar, which takes in Ubud, on 12 October.^{[2, 4, 6]}

How much fuel can you buy in Bali now?

Some stations cap Pertalite fills while the shortage lasts: a motorbike gets up to 3 litres a fill and a car up to 20 litres, under limits announced for 17 to 19 October.^{[4, 22]}

The caps apply to Pertalite; Pertamax has its own queue at the pump. Ambulances and fire engines go first, and trucks fill only at night.^{[3, 9]}

How much is petrol in Bali?

Pertalite costs IDR 10,000 a litre and Pertamax IDR 15,950 at Pertamina pumps in Bali. The shortage has not moved the price.^{[10, 11]}

Take a scooter rider who fills 3 litres every other day for a week. That comes to about 12 litres, or IDR 120,000 (about AUD 9.6) at Pertalite's price, our estimate. If only Pertamax is left, the same week costs about IDR 190,000 (about AUD 15).^[10]

At Pertamina pumps, what moves your number is the grade, not the station. Pertamax costs about 60% more a litre than Pertalite.^[10]

Why did Bali run out of fuel?

A tanker's anchor fault while unloading delayed its berthing by about 15 hours on 12 October, and deliveries to the stations slipped with it. Stations also drained faster as more people bought subsidised Pertalite, and traffic slowed the tanker trucks.^[13]

Supply was already late once this month, with queues reported by 8 October.^[15]

Has Bali run short of fuel before?

Yes, at least twice in the past year, plus long queues over the New Year holiday. Supply recovered by 1 September after the August shortage.^{[17, 18, 19, 20]}

Supply reaches Bali by tanker, so bad weather at sea or a late ship reaches the pumps. Holiday demand adds to the strain, as it did over New Year.^{[13, 19, 20]}

What has changed since the shortage began?

Queues have eased since the limits began on 17 October. On 18 October stations stayed open 24 hours until queues return to normal. Each change is listed by the day it happened, newest first; Pertamina posts the next one at @pertaminabali.^{[2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 24]}