Heaptalk, Jakarta — Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia has announced plans to significantly increase Indonesia’s imports of crude oil from the United States, raising the current share from approximately 4% to around 40%.
The move is part of Indonesia’s broader negotiation strategy in response to high tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. Speaking at the Presidential Palace on Monday, April 21, 2025, Minister Bahlil emphasized that the shift would also apply to refined fuel imports.
“Our crude oil imports from the United States currently stand at no more than 4%. We intend to raise this to over 40%, and the same goes for fuel products, which currently account for a tiny share,” Bahlil stated.
He added that the technical discussions on this plan would be carried out with the Ministry’s technical team and state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina (Persero).
This initiative follows President Prabowo Subianto’s directive to explore strategic measures to balance Indonesia’s trade with the US, which currently shows a surplus of approximately US$14 billion to US$15 billion, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).
“There will be several strategic steps to address the current trade surplus with the US, which is around US$14 billion to US$15 billion based on BPS data,” Bahlil explained.
He noted that President Prabowo has tasked the government with identifying potential US products that could be imported to support a more balanced trade relationship. In the energy sector specifically, Bahlil highlighted that around 54% of Indonesia’s current LPG imports already come from the US, while crude oil imports have remained relatively low at just 4%.
