Antara, Jakarta – Indonesia is preparing additional regulations that would allow public service agencies to import oil, particularly from Russia, which remains subject to Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, a senior Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry official said on Monday.
Laode Sulaeman, director general of oil and gas at the ministry, said state-owned energy company Pertamina is currently authorized to import crude oil, but direct purchases from Russia would be complicated because of the company's exposure to global financial markets.
According to Laode, Russian oil imports require a special mechanism because of Pertamina's international business obligations.
"Pertamina operates using global bonds. The company must avoid actions that could violate the terms of those bonds. A new import scheme is currently being processed," Laode said.
Russia and Indonesia reached an oil purchase agreement following President Prabowo Subianto's visit to Moscow last month. Government sources said Indonesia plans to purchase around 150 million barrels of oil in phases through the end of this year.
Earlier, President Prabowo issued a regulation establishing a new oil import mechanism for Pertamina and public service agencies.
Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Yuliot Tanjung said the regulation was introduced to provide legal certainty for import procedures and to prevent potential legal complications in the future.
"Imports can be carried out directly by state-owned enterprises, in this case Pertamina, and can also be conducted by public service agencies," Yuliot said in Jakarta, without specifying which agencies would be involved.
He added that one of the key elements of the new regulation is the government's decision to open options for oil imports from multiple regions, including the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and Russia.
"This creates differences in several aspects, including oil quality, shipping time, location, and fluctuating prices," Yuliot said.