Indonesia Explores Additional Crude Oil Imports from Brunei to Secure Domestic Supplies
Jakarta — The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) is targeting potential additional crude oil imports from Brunei Darussalam to secure the availability of domestic energy stocks. Beyond diversifying supply sources, this will also strengthen national energy resilience amid a global geopolitical situation fraught with uncertainty.
At the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum (IPEM) in Tokyo, Japan, Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia revealed that Brunei’s oil production capacity reaches 100,000–110,000 barrels per day (bpd). This opens opportunities for mutually beneficial trade cooperation between the two nations.
Indonesia has previously imported crude oil from Brunei Darussalam.
“Exploring crude oil imports from Brunei is one of the strategic options we are promoting, whilst ensuring the availability of national energy supply remains secure,” Bahlil explained in Tokyo, citing official statements.
The meeting also highlighted Brunei’s interest in Indonesia’s energy transformation. Brunei is keen to study Indonesia’s experience in diversifying electricity generation through the development of renewable energy sources to reduce the dominance of natural gas.
“This is a golden moment for regional collaboration. Brunei sees that Indonesia has advanced further and is more structured in developing energy generation from various sources, whilst Brunei utilises 99 per cent gas for its electricity generation and wants to reduce its reliance on gas,” Bahlil added.
This aligns with Brunei’s target to increase installed electricity generation capacity fivefold, adding 4 Gigawatts (GW) to its current capacity of 1 GW.
Beyond the electricity sector, Brunei has also shown interest in the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technology that PT Pertamina has applied to extract oil from aging wells.
Brunei’s Deputy Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office, Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Mohamad Azmi Bin Haji Mohd Hanifah, expressed his country’s interest in applying upstream oil and gas technology.
“We are interested in Indonesia because there is EOR technology already in place. We have used water flooding and we believe we can learn from Indonesia to operate EOR,” he said.
Responding to this interest, the Indonesian government stated its readiness to facilitate cooperation with Brunei. Bahlil confirmed he would bridge knowledge exchange so both nations can mutually enhance their respective energy production capacity.
“We are ready to cooperate to share experience and knowledge on technical matters, and I will gladly prepare this to share and learn,” Bahlil said.
As a follow-up, Indonesia has also invited Brunei to expand its investment through the Indonesian Economic Corridor (KEI) framework. The investment scheme is directed towards infrastructure development for electricity generation in remote areas and programmes to enhance human resource capacity in the upstream oil and gas sector and renewable energy.