Jakarta. The Russian government recently said that it had entered into talks with Indonesia on possibly clinching long-term oil contracts as Jakarta sought to plug the supply gap left by the Iran war.

Russian state news agency TASS, quoting the country’s energy minister Sergey Tsivilyov, wrote Monday that both sides had begun working on the said contracts. Tsivilyov made the statement amid President Prabowo’s visit to Moscow. Tsivilyov offered little detail on the arrangement, including how big an order Indonesia was looking to place.

“We received a request from our Indonesian counterparts for the supply of petroleum products to them. We are now working seriously on drawing up long-term contracts at a mutually beneficial price,” Tsivilyov told Channel One television.

The Jakarta Globe has reached out to the Energy Ministry for comments. However, the government statements from the Indonesian side did not mention the long-term contracts.

Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia — who joined the Moscow tour — has said that the government would oversee the opportunities that they had discussed. This includes beefing up the oil trade and the refinery cooperation, according to Bahlil, alluding to the stalled Tuban project. 

Russian oil giant Rosneft had partnered with state-run oil firm Pertamina to run the East Java-based Tuban refinery project, but the Ukraine war had further put the plan in limbo.

“The visit marks a major momentum to ensure national fuel supplies and strengthen our energy security,” Bahlil was quoted as saying in a press release.

The live-broadcast talks of President Prabowo’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin touched on energy ties, but made no mention of oil purchases. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said the meeting had gone on for 5 hours, and the government stream lasted only around 15 minutes. Prabowo told Putin that he came to Moscow to seek “consultations” amid the rapid geopolitical changes, alluding to the US-Israeli fighting with Iran.

“We find it extremely necessary to consult [with Russia] in facing the current situation going forward. And if possible, we wish to continue to beef up our economic and energy cooperation,” Prabowo said at the Kremlin.

Roughly a quarter of Indonesia’s crude imports had come from the Middle East. However, they can’t exit the region without crossing the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blocked since the war began at the end of February. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is now searching for new supplies, although it has previously inked a commitment to facilitate $4.5 billion worth of US crude as part of a tariff deal.