TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Shortly after the dawn call to prayer, Irwan, 50, had already parked his car at the entrance to the Cot Iri Public Fuel Filling Station (SPBU) in Greater Aceh. Behind him, hundreds of motorcycles, cars, and trucks stretched in a line for nearly 200 meters. Several motorists were already waiting ahead of him to buy fuel. "I had to come before dawn just to make sure I could get diesel," Irwan said as he waited for his turn to enter the station on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.
The previous day, Irwan had visited nearly every gas station in Banda Aceh. But he could not find subsidized biodiesel because supplies had run out. He ultimately chose to wait in line rather than pay far more to fill his tank with Dexlite, which cost Rp19,750 per liter (around US$1.10)—Rp12,950 (US$0.72) more expensive than subsidized biodiesel.
According to Irwan, the situation has persisted since early July. He and hundreds of other Banda Aceh residents have had to queue before daybreak just to obtain fuel. An employee at one gas station in Banda Aceh explained that deliveries of subsidized biodiesel and Pertalite still arrived every day. "But demand keeps increasing, so our stock runs out very quickly," the employee said.
Fahrougi Andriani Sumampouw, Area Manager for Communication, Relations, and Corporate Social Responsibility at Pertamina Patra Niaga's Northern Sumatra Regional Office, said the company had implemented various measures. Among them was extending the operating hours of the Lhokseumawe Integrated Terminal and the Krueng Raya Fuel Terminal from an average of eight hours to 14 hours a day. "We have also increased fuel tanker deliveries by 65 percent to speed up distribution," Fahrougi said on Wednesday, July 22.
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