Picture of old cylinders falsely linked to Indonesia cooking gas supply woes

The photo, showing stacks of pink three-kilogram gas cylinders labelled "Bright Gas" and "LPG non-subsidised", was shared on Instagram on February 3, 2025.

"The melon gas is scarce and complicated to get," reads part of the Indonesian-language text above the photo, using a colloquial name for subsidised three-kilogram LPG cylinders derived from the colour of the canisters.

"And now the non-subsidised 3-kg gas that costs 42,000 [rupiahs] have started to appear."

Most Indonesian households rely on the "melon gas", which are sold at around 20,000 rupiahs ($1.22) per unit under government subsidies.

Image

Screenshot of the false Instagram post, captured on February 5, 2025

The image was shared after the Indonesian government announced it would restrict the sale of subsidised cooking gas to registered retailers only, meaning canisters would no longer be available at convenience stores (archived link).

Local media reported that many Indonesians were left frustrated by the decision, and found it difficult to locate stores still selling the subsidised canisters. Long queues were seen at authorised distribution points, with one 62-year-old woman reportedly dying after waiting for an hour in line to buy cooking gas (archived here and here).

President Prabowo Subianto ordered a reversal of the unpopular policy on February 4, with supplies returning to normal (archived link).

The same photo was also shared elsewhere on Facebook, TikTok, X and SnackVideo.

But it does not show non-subsidised LPG canisters that appeared while supplies of "melon gas" were scarce.

Withdrawn product

Heppy Wulansari, a corporate secretary at Indonesia's sole distributor of LPG cylinders Pertamina Patra Niaga, told AFP they no longer sell non-subsidised 3kg LPG gas cylinders.

Non-subsidised gas cylinders -- branded "Bright Gas" -- are currently only sold in 5.5kg and 12kg varieties, Heppy said on February 5.

The Pertamina Patra Niaga website only lists non-subsidised 5.5kg and 12kg gas cylinders (archived here and here). They also sell a 220-gram gas can (archived link).

Pertamina sold non-subsidised 3kg canisters in 2018, but Heppy said they have since been withdrawn because of "low public interest".

A keyword search on Google led to local news reports about the product that would be launched in 2018 (archived here and here). The reports show the pink cylinders with the numbers "03-22" -- the same numbers written on the cylinders in the falsely shared photo.

According to Bright Gas's verified Instagram page, the numbers indicate the month and year of the cylinder's next safety test (archived link).

AFP has debunked other misinformation about gas cylinders in Indonesia here, here and here.