Jakarta. Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said Monday that Indonesia would proceed with its plan to shift fuel imports from Singapore to the Middle East or elsewhere sooner rather than later. 

Bahlil spoke on the import reduction plans on the margins of the 2025 Energy and Mineral Forum in Jakarta. When asked about the time frame for the phase-out of Singaporean fuel. Bahlil responded with “Ju”, alluding to June or July, but stopped short of giving away more details.

“Ju- … But you know what, I don’t want to say the month, but it will happen soon,” Bahlil said.

Earlier that day, Bahlil told the forum that Indonesia could become a laughingstock if it continues to buy its energy from Singapore, given that the close neighbor does not have a crude oil production of its own. The island nation mainly gets its oil from the Middle East, before its domestic industries refine it for exports. Over half of the fuel that Indonesia imports comes from Singapore.

“We are importing fuel from a country that does not even produce it. This is funny. The price is even the same as the fuel that we buy from the Middle East. They [Middle East and Singapore] will laugh at us,” Bahlil said.

Singapore always topped the list of Indonesia's fuel suppliers between 2017 and 2022, according to the latest available estimates by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). In 2022, about 10.9 million tons of Singaporean crude petroleum and its products made their way to Indonesia. These imports amounted to $10.4 billion in value. The Trade Ministry reported that Indonesia’s oil and gas imports from Singapore were worth $21.5 billion in 2024, up from $10.4 billion recorded the previous year.

Amid these plans, Indonesia also intends to buy more American fuel as a means to nudge US President Donald Trump into rolling back the reciprocal tariffs. US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 32 percent tariffs on Indonesian goods starting in July. Bahlil recently said that the state-run oil company Pertamina “had no excuse” to not increase its US imports. 

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