DEN Secretary General Leaks Pertamina Looking For Cheap Oil Sources To Other Countries

JAKARTA - The conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East which continues to heat up has prompted Indonesia to seek oil sources from other countries in anticipation of soaring world oil prices.

It is known, until now Indonesia is still importing crude oil from Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

Secretary General (Sekjen) of the National Energy Council (DEN) Djoko Siswanto revealed that currently state-owned oil and gas enterprises, Pertamina is looking for cheap sources of oil from other countries to meet domestic oil needs.

"Now Pertamina is exploring several countries looking for crude, which is cheaper," he told the media quoted on Thursday, October 18.

For now, he said, Pertamina has received an offer of cheap oil from Russia.

However, due to the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the government has discouraged this from causing problems in the future.

"Actually, Russia offers cheaper but because there is a conflict between Ukraine and Russia, it's more than later problems in the future we look for other places," explained Djoko.

Previously, Director General of Oil and Gas Tutuka Ariadji said the prolonged war could raise world oil prices to higher.

The reason is, with the war, the cost of oil logistics will also increase.

Just so you know, Indonesian oil is mostly imported from Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

"We are basically open to looking for any sources. We are now the most imported from Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. We open up opportunities to find new sources of oil, we will adjust. If there is a problem, we can take it from where and so on," Tutuka told the media quoted on Tuesday, October 17.

Tutuka emphasized that he did not limit which countries would become the next Indonesian oil source as long as energy security was met and affordable by the public.

Nevertheless, he ensured, the conflict in the Middle East has not had a significant impact on Indonesia even though world oil prices continue to move up.