REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's State-owned oil and gas company, Pertamina, has been able to become self-reliant in diesel oil and has the potential to increase the country's foreign exchange earnings through diesel oil exports.

"However, the country's diesel oil surplus is temporary in nature as there is a possibility of the need at home increasing," Executive Director of ReforMiner Institute, Komaidi Notonegoro, said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He noted that the success of Pertamina in taking diesel oil production to a surplus level needed to be appreciated. So far, the main consumers of diesel oil have been the industrial and transportation sectors. The development of gas infrastructure, both for industry and transportation, has the potential to reduce demand for diesel oil.

"The infrastructure development will proceed in stages. Regions which have not yet been covered by gas distribution networks will continue to use diesel oil since its distribution is more flexible than that of gas," Komaidi added.