Jakarta. Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said Friday that private fuel retailers Shell, Vivo, BP, and ExxonMobil have agreed to purchase additional fuel imports under a collaboration scheme with state-owned energy company Pertamina.

The agreement followed a meeting between the government, Pertamina, and the private retailers in Jakarta. “They agreed, and indeed must agree, to buy and collaborate with Pertamina,” Bahlil told reporters.

Under the scheme, private operators will buy base fuel, or unblended product, which they will then mix with additives at their own facilities. The retailers also requested joint surveys of purchases and full transparency in pricing. “We want both Pertamina and the private sector to benefit fairly. Everything must be transparent, and they have agreed to an open-book approach,” Bahlil said.

The government expects the new imported fuel supply to arrive within seven days, with the volume for each operator to be finalized in a technical meeting. The move comes after private retailers nearly exhausted their additional 10 percent import quota earlier this year, leading to shortages at some stations.

But critics warn that Indonesia’s plan to centralize all fuel imports under Pertamina, dubbed the “one-gate” system, could have far-reaching consequences. Fahmy Radhi, an energy economist at Universitas Gadjah Mada, said the policy would effectively strip foreign players like Shell and BP of their ability to independently source supplies.

“With one-gate imports, foreign stations will lose that flexibility. They would have to buy fuel directly from Pertamina at prices it sets, cutting into their margins and making operations unprofitable,” Fahmy said Tuesday. Sustained losses, he cautioned, could drive international brands out of the market, leaving Pertamina with near-monopoly control over downstream oil and gas distribution.

Pertamina has rejected suggestions that it is responsible for the current shortages at private stations. At a parliamentary hearing on Sept. 11, Pertamina President Director Simon Aloysius Mantiri denied allegations that the company lobbied the ministry to delay or restrict import permits for private retailers. “Suggestions that Pertamina asked ESDM to withhold import quotas from private gas stations are completely untrue,” Simon said.

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