Jakarta. Indonesian state-run energy firm Pertamina had inked several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with its American counterparts, like the Texas-based oil giant ExxonMobil, as a sweetener in the ongoing tariff talks.

The Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DC, announced Wednesday that it was the company’s refining subsidiary, Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI), that had signed the deals. KPI struck an MoU with ExxonMobil, and another one with KDT Global Resources, a trading firm specializing in energy products. Major American energy company Chevron and KPI also signed an MoU that day. 

Indonesia is currently trying to appease US President Donald Trump’s tariff wrath after the American leader threatened to impose a 32 percent tariff on all Indonesian goods starting August 1. Southeast Asia’s largest economy has proposed bumping up its energy imports from the US.

Fadjar Djoko Santoso, the vice president for corporate communications at Pertamina, told the Jakarta Globe that the pacts were related to “optimizing the feedstock or crude oil for national energy security”.

“We are also exploring the possibility of other areas of cooperation related to the downstream refinery investment,” Fadjar said via text. 

Fadjar, however, could not say the value of these MoUs, saying that they were only general agreements thus far. He added: “So there is no number yet.”

Pertamina was not the only Indonesian company that would bring home some fresh deals with American enterprises, according to the embassy.

Indonesia's Wheat Producer and US Wheat Associates had joined forces that day. Starch derivative product producer Sorini Agro Asia Corporindo and food giant Cargill signed a corn purchase-related MoU.

There was a letter between the Export Promotion Association, Cotton Council International, and Indonesia's Textile Association. Last but not least is an MoU between Indonesian food company FKS Group and the New Orleans-based Zen-Noh Grain Corp on soybean and soybean meal purchases. The embassy did not provide the details of each partnership.

ExxonMobil Indonesia's boss, Wade Floyd, said that his company was “proud” to be backing Indonesia’s energy needs. “We bring decades of experience, global supply capabilities, and a long-standing commitment to being a trusted energy partner,” Floyd was quoted as saying in the embassy’s press statement.

Indonesia has sent its chief negotiator, Airlangga Hartarto, to Washington, DC, to meet Trump’s team, among others, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. Prior to his trip, Airlangga announced that Indonesia was planning to sign a string of MoUs worth up to $34 billion with American business partners, comprising energy imports valued at $15.5 billion.

It also includes investment plans involving sovereign fund Danantara and state-run enterprises, as well as some agricultural product imports. Airlangga’s spokesman, Haryo Limanseto, refused to elaborate on Pertamina and the others’ newly signed MoUs, including the total value of the pacts combined.

“These are business-to-business deals. We [the government] are only here to encourage companies to form partnerships with the US. … We have also been informed that [the American partners] feel uncomfortable if we expose the details like the volume [of the purchases]," Haryo told a news conference in Jakarta on Wednesday. 

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