Jakarta. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that his country is willing to be Indonesia’s oil supplier as Moscow embraces closer economic ties with Jakarta.

Economic cooperation became a major talking point during Putin’s bilateral talks with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto at St. Petersburg’s Konstantine Novsky Palace.

Prabowo is on his first state trip to Russia as president, skipping an invitation as a guest at the G7 Summit in Canada.

In the leaders’ joint presser, Putin talked about Russia’s intention to assist Indonesia in meeting its domestic energy demand, be it through exports and investments.

“We are ready to ramp up oil and liquefied natural gas [LNG] supplies to the Indonesian market,” Putin said.

He then pointed out how the Moscow-based energy firm Rosneft and the state-run oil company Pertamina have been working on a joint refinery project in Tuban, East Java. This brief statement signaled Moscow’s intention to remain in the refinery project despite past setbacks. Putin told Prabowo of Russia’s interest in participating in new offshore oil and gas projects.

“We are ready to help [Indonesia] modernize its infrastructure to boost the production from its ageing oil fields,” Putin told the briefing.

Prabowo did not comment on the oil supply cooperation during his turn to deliver a press statement, but said that his talks with Putin were productive.

The Indonesian leader said: “Our cooperation across all sectors, be it on the economic front, technical cooperation, trade, investment, agriculture … all have witnessed meaningful progress.”

Rosneft and Pertamina established a joint venture for the Tuban refinery back in 2017, but this project has long been in limbo. The protracted Russia-Ukraine war, coupled with the subsequent Western sanctions, has affected Moscow’s overseas investments.

According to the project’s official website, this refinery can process up to 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day. This is also a grassroots refinery, meaning that it will be built entirely from scratch. 

Taufik Adityawarman, the boss of Pertamina’s refinery unit, told reporters last month that Pertamina and Rosneft are still working on the so-called final investment decision. 

Taufik claimed that they would come up with the final decision this fourth quarter. He also revealed that the delays had caused the project’s price tag to swell from $13.5 billion to $23 billion.

Shortly after Indonesia’s entry to the Moscow-led BRICS grouping early this year, Jakarta unveiled its interest in importing Russia’s cheap oil.

Russia has been selling its oil at a discount price after being subject to European sanctions in the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine. Pertamina recently admitted to having included Russian crude in its purchase tenders since May 2024.

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