Fuel Crisis Hits Bali, Indonesia, Causing Days-Long Gas Lines

DENPASAR – Motorists across Indonesia’s popular holiday island of Bali faced hours-long waits at gas stations this week as fuel deliveries were disrupted by equipment trouble, rough weather and a sharp rise in demand, officials said Wednesday.

Since Sunday, queues of cars and motorcycles have stretched beyond station entrances and onto surrounding roads, creating major disruptions on the tourism-reliant island.

Authorities said the problem was linked to local distribution delays, not an overall shortage of fuel or instability in international energy markets.

“This is purely a distribution issue,” said Laode Sulaeman, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s director-general of oil and gas. He added that a delayed fuel tanker had reached Bali and that round-the-clock deliveries had been operating since Tuesday.

Sulaeman said the tanker encountered an anchor-related problem as it prepared to unload, postponing deliveries to Bali’s primary fuel terminals. High waves and unfavorable weather then further slowed shipments bound for the Sanggaran terminal in Denpasar and the Manggis terminal in eastern Bali.

The delays coincided with heavy demand for Pertalite, the government-subsidized gasoline sold at a much lower price than nonsubsidized fuel. Concerned drivers also rushed to fill their tanks, intensifying pressure on supplies at several stations.

Some stations displayed notices saying, “Sorry, no fuel available,” as motorists waited near closed pumps for fresh shipments. The disruption has angered residents and businesses on an island where reliable transport is essential to everyday routines and the tourism economy.

“This is really a waste of time. We should be productive, but instead we’re stuck in line,” said Made Marlianti, who spent roughly seven hours waiting beneath the hot sun to buy fuel.

Febi Marsha, who runs a fashion store, said authorities should have taken stronger steps to control the situation before the queues grew so severe.

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“Fuel is available, but supplies are limited,” Marsha said. “The queues should be managed properly to prevent this from happening.”

Images and video obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday showed lines of motorcycles, unused pumps and security officers working to control crowds at multiple locations. Soldiers were among those deployed to assist.

Bali Gov. I Wayan Koster said fuel reserves at storage depots remained adequate, but tanker delays and traffic congestion had slowed distribution to stations. He called on residents to remain calm, saying more fuel was being sent throughout the island.

Pertamina, Indonesia’s state-owned energy company, said it was tracking the situation closely after a tanker delivered 18 million liters (4.8 million gallons) of Pertalite and 2.5 million liters (660,000 gallons) of Pertamax, a higher-octane gasoline sold without a subsidy.

The Bali fuel disruption comes as Indonesia confronts wider difficulties securing imports amid shipping interruptions tied to tensions in the Middle East. President Prabowo Subianto has nevertheless kept subsidized fuel prices unchanged through the end of the year, despite the growing burden on the state budget, in an effort to limit inflation and protect household spending power.

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Niniek Karmini contributed to this report from Jakarta.