Government to Establish BLU to Accommodate Russian Oil Imports

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is drafting additional regulations related to plans to import crude oil from Russia. The regulations are prepared to regulate the implementation mechanism of the imports so as to comply with applicable provisions. This is done because Pertamina (Persero) is bound by global bonds in oil trading. Therefore, the government is seeking an ideal scheme so that imports of Russian oil do not cause violations, one of which is through the Public Service Agency (BLU) scheme. Director of Oil and Gas Programme Development at the ESDM, Hendra Gunawan, said his side has had direct discussions with a team from Russia to discuss the mechanism for implementing the import of oil. ‘We had a direct discussion session with the Russian team regarding what it would entail? because it has circulated in the media, they provided input on the mechanism of its implementation, what it would look like,’ Hendra said during a Hearing with Commission XII of the DPR RI, Thursday (21 May 2026). According to him, from Indonesia’s side currently the government has prepared a draft Presidential Regulation (Perpres) regarding the appointment of BLU as the implementing scheme for importing Russian oil. The regulation will be followed up with derivative rules in the form of Ministerial Regulations (Permen) or Ministerial Decrees (Kepmen). ‘We have prepared the Perpres on appointing BLU and this will be developed further; the follow-up mechanism in the form of Permen or Kepmen is still being discussed because there are no sanctions, so we do not have a legal business relationship; this is what we are pushing,’ he said. Regarding the readiness of BLU, Hendra said the government already has a draft derivative rules as follow-up to the Perpres. Previously, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia revealed that crude oil imports from Russia are targeted to begin arriving in Indonesia in one to two weeks. According to Bahlil, the oil import deal process has been completed, including the cooperation contracts between the two parties. Now, the government only needs to resolve shipping technicalities. ‘Deal is done. Contract is done. Now it’s a matter of delivery technique, and perhaps in the next week or two it could be,’ Bahlil told reporters at the Ministry of ESDM, Monday (11 May 2026).