balitribune.co.id | Amlapura - Queues of vehicles for residents filling up fuel (BBM, or Bahan Bakar Minyak) at all public fuel stations (SPBU, or Stasiun Pengisian Bahan Bakar Umum) in Karangasem Regency (Kabupaten) have become increasingly severe and alarming. At the SPBU located on Jalan Ahmad Yani, Subagan, Amlapura, vehicle queues, ranging from private cars and expedition vehicles to motorcycles, stretched severely, almost reaching one kilometer.
The supervisor of SPBU Subagan, I Komang Semara Putra, told this media on Thursday (15/10/2026) that there had indeed been a delay in fuel supply from the Pertamina Depot in Manggis, Karangasem, because fuel supply from the Depot was prioritized for all SPBUs in the Denpasar City and Badung areas.
“There was indeed a delay in the delivery or arrival of fuel supply from the Pertamina Manggis Depot, because the supply was prioritized for the Denpasar City and Badung areas first. However, the supply quota is still normal, at 16,000 KL,” he stated.
This delay in fuel delivery from the Pertamina Depot subsequently triggered long queues of vehicles filling up. Additionally, for the past three days, there has been no supply of non-subsidized fuel such as Pertamax, Deklite, and Pertadex from the Pertamina Depot. This condition further exacerbated the queues because almost all Pertashop outlets, which exclusively sell Pertamax, were forced to close due to not receiving fuel supply from the Pertamina Manggis Depot.
Previously, the Governor (Gubernur) of Bali, I Wayan Koster, had issued a circular letter (Surat Edaran) to all SPBUs in Bali to open services 24 hours a day to overcome long vehicle queues. However, until Wednesday night, almost all SPBUs in Karangasem Regency only opened services until 9:00 PM local time, in accordance with their normal service schedule or hours.
Meanwhile, chaos nearly erupted when an SPBU was about to close, with residents who had been queuing for more than three hours expressing disappointment because just as they reached the front of the queue at the SPBU entrance, the station suddenly closed. Fortunately, dozens of police (Polisi) and military (TNI, or Tentara Nasional Indonesia) personnel assigned to secure each SPBU were able to calm the residents immediately.
The impact of the fuel scarcity in Bali also had a widespread effect on the education sector, where the difficulty of obtaining fuel caused some teachers' vehicles to break down due to running out of petrol, and some teachers were even forced to join fuel queues.
In response to the impact of fuel scarcity and long vehicle queues at SPBUs, the Bali Provincial Government (Pemprov Bali) issued a circular letter on Thursday, October 15, regarding online learning (Daring) at all schools in Bali.
From observations in the field, almost all schools in Karangasem were quiet. One such school was the State Special Needs School 1 Karangasem (SLB Negeri 1 Karangasem). Although these students require direct special guidance from their teachers, the situation forced them to learn online. This policy is valid from October 15 to 17, 2026.
Not only schools, but the Bali Provincial Government also implemented Work From Home (WFH) for civil servants (ASN, or Aparatur Sipil Negara) in all government agencies in Bali, except for agencies related to public services.
I Wayan Muliarta, a teacher at SLB Negeri 1 Karangasem, acknowledged that many teachers at SLB Negeri 1 Karangasem live far away and have to use vehicles to get to school. However, for the past few days, these teachers have had great difficulty obtaining fuel, and many were forced to join the long queues at SPBUs because their vehicles broke down due to running out of fuel.
