Jakarta. Indonesia is looking to tap into new crude reserves in Latin America besides its current Venezuelan oil field, according to a deputy minister, with the future deals set to be helmed by state-run energy giant Pertamina.

The company’s subsidiary Pertamina Internasional Eksplorasi dan Produksi (PIEP) holds a 71.09% stake in the Paris-based oil firm Maurel & Prom (M&P), which owns assets in Venezuela. Deputy Foreign Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno revealed Thursday that Jakarta had been eyeing other oil fields in other parts of Latin America, all the more so as the Strait of Hormuz blockade enters its fourth month and has fueled a global energy crunch.

“We are thinking of investing in other Latin American nations [outside Venezuela]. … The region holds immense potential and many countries there have oil and gas reserves,” Havas told reporters shortly after a parliamentary hearing on Thursday.

“But we are still in the very early stages of talks with those countries,” Havas said. 

The senior diplomat did not name a specific Latin American nation that Jakarta had been negotiating with. However, reports show that the region is home to 20% of the proven oil reserves, some of which are located in Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico, although they are largely concentrated in Venezuela.

Havas went on to say that Pertamina “had recently been able to resume its operations in Venezuela”.  

The US had previously revoked M&P’s special license that allowed it to operate in the oil-rich nation despite Washington’s sanctions. The cancellation aimed to put pressure on the now-ousted Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro, whom US President Donald Trump strongly dislikes.

In February 2026, or more than a month after Maduro’s capture, the US finally gave its green light for M&P to resume its operations. M&P reported that its working-interest oil production on the Urdaneta Oeste field in Venezuela hit around 8,194 barrels per day in 2025, up 34% year-on-year.

PIEP’s current portfolio spans Algeria, Malaysia, Italy, Colombia, and Nigeria, among others.

The Strait of Hormuz, which carries nearly a quarter of the seaborne oil trade, has been effectively shut since the US-Israel surprise assault against Tehran in late February. Crude prices have skyrocketed since then, following supply shocks. Indonesia, too, has just recently raised the price of its non-subsidized fuel Pertamax by 32%. Two oil tankers belonging to Pertamina are also waiting for their Hormuz exit.

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