Impact Of The Trade War, March ICP Down To 71.11 US Dollars Per Barrel

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has set the price of Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) in March 2025 at the level of 71.11 US dollars per barrel, down as much as 3.18 US dollars from the ICP in February 2025 amounting to 74.29 US dollars.

The determination of the ICP in March 2025 is stated in the Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 143.K/MG.01/MEM/2025 concerning the Price of Crude Oil in March 2025 dated April 16, 2025.

Plt. Head of the Communication, Public Information and Cooperation Service (KLIK) Chrisnawan Anditya explained that the decline in the ICP this time was in line with the decline in global oil prices.

One of the main declines in crude prices in the international market is influenced by concerns about an increase in US trade rates that have the potential to disrupt the global economy, which reduces demand for crude oil, said Chrisnawan in Jakarta, Thursday, April 17.

In addition to the US trade tariff factor, Chrisnawan said another factor affecting the decline in crude prices in the international market was OPEC+'s signal to continue plans to increase oil production by April 2025.

Chrisnawan said this was done following US President Donald Trump's pressure on OPEC and Saudi Arabia to lower prices.

"Not only that, there was an increase in US commercial crude stock in mid-March 2025 compared to the end of February 2025, amounting to 3.2 million barrels to 437 million barrels, in accordance with seasonal trends, namely the decline in demand for oil by processing refineries," he said.

In addition, Chrisnawan also said the rate of operation of US and European refineries has decreased and is entering a periodic maintenance period, in preparation for a summer driving season or summer vacation that will increase fuel consumption.

Meanwhile, for the Asia Pacific region, continued Chrisnawan, the decline in crude oil prices was also influenced by Chinese teapot refineries, which are the main buyers of sanctioned crude oils.

Chrisnawan said the Chinese refinery had begun to stop their purchases to assess the impact and risks of the sanctions US would impose on one of China's independent refineries that bought Iranian oil.

"Oil trading actors in Asia refrain from buying Iranian crude oil, and are awaiting developments in the Ukraine-Russia peace talks, which have the potential to ease sanctions for Russian crude oil," added Chrisnawan.

The following is the development of the average price of major crude oil in March 2025 compared to February 2025 which decreased: