Fuel and power supply problems are surfacing across Indonesia's regions: the Ombudsman found fuel stock-outs in six provinces and queues in 17 on 17–18 October, while rolling blackouts hit parts of Kalimantan and Batam

CorporateIssued: October 26, 2026

Since early October fuel and electricity supply problems have appeared in several Indonesian regions at once, though the reports give different causes in different places and the Ombudsman says the characteristics differ by region. Bali was the centre of the fuel problem: Pertalite stopped arriving on 9–10 October, stations ran out from 11 October, queues in Denpasar passed two kilometres with waits of four to six hours on 14 October, and civil servants worked from home on 15–17 October. Queues and stock-outs were also reported in East Java and, in the Ombudsman's provisional check on 17–18 October, stations ran out of stock in six provinces and queues formed in 17. Separately, Batam had a wide blackout on 12 October, and rolling blackouts occurred in parts of Kalimantan: West Kalimantan, where a 54-day overhaul of the Ketapang coal-fired plant is cutting night-time supply, and Balikpapan on 19–20 October. The Energy Minister says national fuel stock is 16–18 days and calls the fuel problem one of distribution; subsidised fuel prices and the 3 kg LPG price are being held to the end of the year. We have not seen a nationwide shortage reported, and several of the figures are provisional.

Timeline

Fri 9–Sun 11 Oct
Routine Pertalite supply to Bali stops on 9–10 October and resumes only in limited amounts on 11–12 October; shipments through Benoa port show a gap in arrivals before the shortage (Ombudsman, via ANTARA). Pertalite runs out in Jembrana from the afternoon of 11 October and Pertamax from that night, affecting 14 stations (detikBali).
Sun 11–Tue 13 Oct
Batam: a cable fault on 11 October is followed on Monday 12 October by an outage across most of the city, with 406,083 of 411,219 affected customers restored by 04:00–05:00 WIB and supply fully restored on 13 October. The cause was still under investigation; on 14 October Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia listed network faults, lightning and animals touching installations as possibilities, none confirmed (IDN Times).
Mon 12 Oct
The tanker MT Prima XP, scheduled to berth in Bali at 06:30 WITA, berths at 22:00 WITA after a mooring-anchor fault (Ombudsman, via ANTARA). Pertamina's Ahad Rahedi says Bali uses about 2,200 kilolitres of Pertalite a day and that a further 26,200 kilolitres will arrive on 12, 14 and 16 October (detikBali, 20:07 WIB). Pertalite demand in Denpasar and Badung rose from about 700 thousand to 1.3 million litres a day (Ombudsman).
Wed 14–Thu 15 Oct
Queues in Denpasar exceed two kilometres with waits of about four to six hours on 14 October, and queues in Tabanan and Gianyar exceed three kilometres the next day (Ombudsman, via ANTARA). Bahlil says national stock is safe (Kompas.com, 14 October); the director-general of oil and gas, Laode Sulaeman, calls it 'purely a distribution issue' and the Bali governor, I Wayan Koster, says depot stock is sufficient (AP, via The Star). Civil servants and BUMD staff in Bali work from home and schools go online on 15–17 October (Balipost).
Fri 16 Oct, 11:30 WIB
East Java: Pertalite has been out at some Surabaya stations since 14 October; Biosolar queues form in Malang Raya, where two stations in Malang Regency stop operating, and queues in Blitar and Jember (about a week); some Blitar stations impose purchase quotas. Pertamina's regional office cites tanker schedules disrupted by global geopolitical dynamics and consumers switching from non-subsidised to subsidised fuel (detikJatim).
Fri 16 Oct, 13:12 WIB
Bahlil says national fuel stock is 16–18 days, attributes the problems in Bali and East Java to distribution constraints involving shipments by sea, and orders more vessels to speed up distribution (CNN Indonesia).
Sat 17–Sun 18 Oct
The Ombudsman's provisional oversight, through 34 regional offices, finds stock-outs at stations in six provinces (most in Lampung and South Kalimantan, then West Sumatra, Aceh, Highland Papua and East Nusa Tenggara) and long queues in 17 provinces (South Kalimantan, Lampung, Riau, Southeast Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Bali, West Sulawesi, Bengkulu, East Kalimantan, West Sumatra, West Java, Aceh, Yogyakarta, Jambi, West Nusa Tenggara, Highland Papua and South Papua) (ANTARA, 24 October). On 18 October Bali queues ease after an odd-even system for Pertalite purchases and a litre-based sales service at stations, though not evenly: queues remain in Gianyar and Tabanan; the work-from-home order ended on 17 October (Balipost).
Mon 19–Tue 20 Oct
Balikpapan has rolling outages of up to three hours (18:00–21:00 WITA on 19 October and about 13:00–16:00 WITA on 20 October in East Balikpapan), which PLN attributes to faults at 'several power plants'. Asked on 22 October, Bahlil refers reporters to PLN (detikKalimantan). The Ombudsman summons the Energy Ministry, Pertamina, Pertamina Patra Niaga and BPH Migas on 20 October (ANTARA).
Wed 21 Oct
West Kalimantan Governor Ria Norsan meets Pertamina and PLN about subsidised fuel that is hard to deliver to inland districts (Sintang, Putussibau, Melawi, Landak) and coastal areas, and rolling blackouts. Pertamina says low water in the Kapuas River disrupts deliveries to the Sintang depot and adds about 27 tank trucks; PLN links the outages to a 54-day overhaul of the Ketapang coal-fired plant, with the deficit at night and outages limited to a maximum of two hours per location (Jurnal Borneo, 22 October).
Sat 24–Mon 26 Oct
On 24 October the Ombudsman lists the causes it found, most frequent first: fuel migration because of price differences between fuel types, distribution obstacles, surging demand, misuse such as hoarding, quota limits, panic buying and purchase restrictions, and calls for a comprehensive evaluation (ANTARA). On 26 October the Energy Ministry confirms the subsidised 3 kg LPG price will not rise before the end of 2026, with national subsidised LPG stock above the minimum standard according to Bahlil; Asian LNG (JKM) is at US$31.50 per MMBtu, a 12-month high (Industry.co.id).

Key points

Several different problems, not one national shortage: the Ombudsman says the characteristics of the fuel distribution problem differ from region to region, so supply, delivery accuracy and quota fit must be evaluated regionally. Bali's was largely a sea-delivery problem, East Java's a mix of tanker timing and switching between fuels, West Kalimantan's river-level and road-delivery limits for inland districts, and the power problems are plant outages and overhauls rather than fuel supply.
Official position: national fuel stock is 16–18 days, and the Energy Minister attributes the queues to distribution rather than availability (Bahlil, 16 October). The reports we read contain no nationwide rationing order; the measures reported are local — odd-even purchases and litre-based sales in Bali, quotas at some East Java stations, extra vessels and tank trucks.
Prices: subsidised fuel prices are held (Pertalite Rp10,000 and Biosolar Rp6,800 a litre), and the 3 kg LPG price is held to the end of 2026 (Rp19,000 at the agent and Rp22,000 at retail). Non-subsidised prices have not changed since 2 September: Pertamax Rp15,950 a litre in Jakarta and Java, Pertamax Turbo Rp19,600, Dexlite Rp23,700 and Pertamina Dex Rp25,200 (RCTI+, 24 October). The Ombudsman names the price difference between fuel types as the most frequent cause of the queues.
Power: the Kalimantan outages come from plant faults and a planned overhaul, which PLN says is concentrated at night; Batam's cause is not confirmed. Earlier in 2026 rolling blackouts also hit parts of Java (June) and West Kalimantan (July) (IDN Times).
What we do not know: how far the Ombudsman's provisional findings reflect conditions after 18 October, whether the planned evaluation will change distribution rules, and when the Ketapang overhaul and Kalimantan generation repairs will end.

What this means for your Indonesian entity

If you operate in the affected regions, treat fuel and power as an operating-continuity item for the coming weeks rather than a cost item: queues and stock-outs have been local and short-lived so far, but they moved between regions within two weeks. Practical checks: (1) staff commuting and field work in Bali, East Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi may meet queues, odd-even or quota rules at stations, so allow extra time and plan refuelling rather than waiting until the tank is low; (2) if your site uses diesel generators as backup, confirm the stock on site and your supplier's delivery route, because the same distribution problems can affect generator fuel, and ask PLN for the outage schedule in West Kalimantan, Balikpapan and Batam; (3) for inland and river-served sites in Kalimantan, expect deliveries by road or river to be slower while the Kapuas River is low; (4) the government has not raised subsidised fuel or 3 kg LPG prices and has said it will hold them to the end of 2026, and non-subsidised prices have been unchanged since 2 September; this entry makes no forecast of prices or of how long the disruptions will last. If the Ombudsman's evaluation or the Energy Ministry changes how subsidised fuel is distributed, that will be a separate regulatory item and we will update this entry. This is orientation, not advice.

Sources

This page summarises publicly available information for orientation. It is not tax, legal, or accounting advice, and regulations change. Verify against the linked primary sources and contact us before acting on anything here.

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