Prabowo's Russia energy trip
President Prabowo travelled to Russia this week on a mission framed around securing energy and fertiliser supplies amid Middle East tensions. Reports say the visit is explicitly cast as an energy mission and notes Indonesia still imports large volumes of crude, petrol, diesel and LPG even as it has coal, gas and other resources at home. (straitstimes.com) (thejakartapost.com)
President Prabowo Subianto arrived in Moscow on April 13 for talks with Vladimir Putin centered on securing Indonesia’s oil supply. (en.antaranews.com) Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, Bahlil Lahadalia, joined the trip, and the ministry said the visit focuses on “long-term national energy security.” Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said stable oil supply is one of the main agenda items. (en.antaranews.com) Foreign Minister Sugiono said on April 11 that Prabowo would meet Putin in the coming days to discuss geopolitics and energy. The Jakarta Post reported on April 13 that the trip was framed as a search for fuel after disruption in global oil supplies linked to the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran. (thejakartapost.com 1) (thejakartapost.com 2) The immediate pressure point is imports. Statistics Indonesia says Indonesia imported 53.7 million tons of crude petroleum and petroleum products in 2024, up from 52.1 million tons in 2023. (bps.go.id) That dependence sits awkwardly with Indonesia’s resource base. The International Energy Agency says Indonesia was the Asia-Pacific region’s third-largest crude oil producer in 2023, but domestic crude covered only 63.3 percent of total crude oil supply. (iea.org) The same International Energy Agency profile says oil made up 26.3 percent of Indonesia’s total energy supply in 2023. That helps explain why a supply shock abroad can quickly become a domestic political issue in a country of more than 270 million people. (iea.org) The trip is also about fertiliser inputs, not only fuel. The Straits Times reported that Prabowo and Putin were expected to discuss Russian energy products and raw materials used in Indonesia’s fertiliser production. (straitstimes.com) Indonesia has been widening its energy diplomacy beyond Russia. On April 1, Prabowo met South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Seoul, where the two sides discussed energy security alongside minerals and technology cooperation. (msn.com) For now, the clearest test of the Moscow trip is whether it produces supply arrangements that reduce Indonesia’s exposure to another jump in imported fuel costs. Indonesian officials have cast the visit as a hedge against a market shock they say is already spreading through global energy trade. (en.antaranews.com) (thejakartapost.com)
