Many Permanent Residents Continue to Buy Pertamax Fuel Amidst Pertamina Corruption Allegations

Allegations of corruption in the management of oil involving a subsidiary of PT Pertamina have impacted public trust in the company's fuel products.

However, a Kompas Research and Development (Litbang Kompas) survey shows that 51% of respondents would still buy Pertamax or higher-grade fuel from Pertamina.

Meanwhile, 33.8% would not buy Pertamax due to concerns about the fuel quality being lower than it should be. A further 9% would not buy until there is a government quality guarantee.

"Public doubt regarding RON 92 products must be addressed immediately. RON 92 products are also sold by several private and foreign oil companies operating in Indonesia," stated the Litbang Kompas team in their report on Thursday, March 13, 2025.

The survey also found that the majority, or 71.3%, of respondents always buy fuel at Pertamina gas stations. Only 10.2% sometimes buy fuel from non-Pertamina gas stations.

"Given this case, it is not impossible that these respondents will temporarily compare and prefer competitor products," said the Litbang Kompas team.

The survey involved 532 respondents from 38 provinces, randomly selected according to the population proportion in each province.

Data collection was conducted from March 4-7, 2025, through telephone interviews. The survey's margin of error is approximately 4.25% with a 95% confidence level, under conditions of simple random sampling.