ASEAN Oil Storage Hub Formula Emerges, Bahlil Proposes It in Indonesia

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia has revealed that Southeast Asian countries are formulating the establishment of a central oil reserve storage or storage hub for the ASEAN region. In this plan, Indonesia has proposed that the facility be built in the country.

According to Bahlil, the plan emerged in discussions at the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines as part of strengthening regional energy cooperation amid global geopolitical uncertainties.

“At the Summit, we agreed on several important matters from President Prabowo’s perspective, inviting ASEAN to engage in mutually beneficial regional cooperation, particularly in the energy sector,” Bahlil said at the Ministry of ESDM on Monday (11/5/2026).

In those discussions, Bahlil said he had offered Indonesia as the location for building the ASEAN regional oil storage centre. However, he did not detail the specific location.

“We will build the storage wherever, but yesterday I offered it in Indonesia. We are building a sufficiently large reserve that will ultimately supply the countries in Southeast Asia,” he stated.

Bahlil acknowledged that the idea of establishing an ASEAN oil storage centre is still a new concept. However, Indonesia has actually prepared earlier for building such an energy storage facility, and a feasibility study (FS) is currently underway.

“The idea emerged when we were already ready to implement it. And we plan to build that zone in Sumatra. We will create a Special Economic Zone that will ultimately become our national buffer reserve,” he said.