Jakarta. The state-owned energy giant Pertamina said Wednesday that its clean jet fuel program would be open to private “strategic” investors, not long after the company shook hands on a deal with the American planemaker Boeing.

Pertamina has been trying to grow its source of revenue beyond oil production, according to the company’s senior vice president for business development Ary Kurniawan. This is why the company is tapping into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which it offers for both domestic and international flights.

“We are in the process of inviting several partners or strategic investors to our SAF ecosystem,” Ary told the Investor Daily Summit.

Ary did not expand on how the negotiations had gone, only saying that the SAF business could “help the government cut emissions”. 

But a few months ago, Pertamina and Boeing sealed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the green plane fuel. They have agreed to jointly identify the potential feedstock and technology development. Their partnership will also revolve around regulatory support to speed up its implementation. 

President Prabowo Subianto not long ago defended Jakarta’s export curbs on the palm oil-based used cooking oil, citing its use as an SAF feedstock. Prabowo at the time even unveiled his goal of positioning Indonesia as “the world’s top aviation fuel supplier”.

Pertamina produces its SAF, made in part from used cooking oil, at its Cilacap refinery. Last year, the airline subsidiary Pelita Air had its maiden flight with the Pertamina-made green jet fuel.  The company has repeatedly expressed its openness to export the SAF. 

An ASEAN SAF Outlook report showed that Indonesia’s potential supply of the renewable jet fuel could reach 2 million barrels per day by 2030. This puts Indonesia just second to Thailand, whose supplies could amount to 3 million barrels per day.

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