MPR Deputy: Energy Crisis Threats Must Be Anticipated with Appropriate Policies
Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) RI, Lestari Moerdijat, has highlighted the threat of an energy crisis amid the worsening global economic conditions. She emphasised that appropriate mitigation of the potential energy crisis is crucial as part of efforts to protect every citizen.
“Efforts to protect the public from the threats of the global energy crisis must be enhanced with the right policies,” said Lestari Moerdijat in her statement on Wednesday (1/4/2026).
This was conveyed by Lestari in her written remarks at the online discussion themed Challenges of the Global Energy Emergency Post-US-Israel and Iran Conflict, held by the Denpasar 12 Discussion Forum today.
Lestari stated that realistic policies based on proper mitigation are needed to minimise public concerns about the potential impacts of the energy crisis.
“The energy crisis will have a chain reaction on all sectors. The government must have the right mitigation scheme and clear communication regarding energy policies to the public,” she stressed.
In the long term, Lestari encouraged the government to accelerate the energy diversification programme. According to her, dependence on fossil fuels makes Indonesia vulnerable to global energy price fluctuations.
“We cannot continue to rely on energy imports. Energy diversification is a necessity to achieve national energy independence,” said the NasDem Party’s Supreme Council Member.
High Import Dependence Remains
On the same occasion, Deputy Chairman of DPR RI Commission XII, Sugeng Suparwoto, revealed that to this day, Middle Eastern countries still dominate global oil and gas production, around 800 billion barrels. This positions the Middle East as the heart of the world’s oil and gas.
On the other hand, Indonesia’s oil and gas production is 845,000 barrels per day, while fuel oil consumption is 1.6 million barrels per day.
“Meanwhile, Indonesia’s oil and gas reserves are only 2.4 billion barrels. Thus, Indonesia’s current position is as a net importer of fuel oil,” said Sugeng.
Sugeng revealed that the allocation for oil and gas and electricity subsidies and compensation in the 2026 State Budget is Rp400 trillion. With the current conditions, every US$1 increase in oil prices requires an additional subsidy of Rp6.7 trillion.
Given this situation, Sugeng stated that there is a need to increase exploration of new oil sources to strengthen national oil and gas reserves in anticipation of global political and economic dynamics.
He also proposed the establishment of a petroleum fund so that Indonesia has the capability to anticipate global oil and gas price fluctuations. “In the long term, do not forget to develop the potential of new and renewable energy that we have,” he explained.
Promoting Energy Transition and Risk Anticipation
Meanwhile, Secretary of the Directorate General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) RI, Harris, revealed that the government is currently preparing anticipatory steps for global oil and gas price fluctuations.
“Several such steps include efficiency measures in the form of implementing work from home (WFH) for civil servants (ASN) and private employees, efficiency in official vehicles, official travel, and switching from petrol motorcycles to electric motorcycles,” he explained.
In addition to those efficiency steps, Harris added, the government is also prioritising efforts to accelerate the energy transition towards the utilisation of new and renewable energy (EBT).
In 2025, Harris mentioned that the national energy supply is 15.75% already using EBT. Meanwhile, this year’s target for EBT utilisation is 16%-20% of national energy.
“With various such efforts, fossil fuel consumption can be gradually reduced,” he said.
Meanwhile, CEO of IESR Fabby Tumiwa assessed that the current situation is a global fossil energy crisis. He said Indonesia is currently able to handle short-term oil and gas supply disruptions due to turmoil in the Middle East.
“However, Indonesia’s conditions remain vulnerable to prolonged oil price shocks and logistics disruptions,” he added.
According to Fabby, the calming of the conflict in the Middle East does not immediately normalise the global oil and gas supply conditions. This is because damage to oil and gas production facilities due to the war in the Middle East requires a long time to repair. “This condition must also be anticipated,” he stressed.
In response to this situation, Energy Expert from Unpad Yayan Satyakti emphasised the importance of building a fuel oil buffer stock supported by increasing the capacity of domestic fuel oil supply sources.
According to Yayan, this step is very good for obtaining more efficient prices when global fuel oil supply disruptions occur. “The same applies to efforts to form a petroleum fund that must be realised to support research and development of energy in the country,” he said.
From that research, Yayan hopes that various development steps in the national energy sector can anticipate future energy utilisation dynamics.
Need for Fuel Price Evaluation
In that discussion, Senior Journalist Usman Kansong stated that the US and Israel attacks on Iran have an impact on the potential fossil-based energy crisis. This condition then leads to fuel-saving measures.
Usman assessed that saving fossil energy consumption has actually been carried out by the government before the war in the Middle East occurred.
“Whether in the form of B50 policy, transition to EBT, or building new refineries,” he added.
In the context of savings, Usman mentioned that an evaluation of the current fuel prices is needed.
“Are the current non-increasing fuel prices actually wasting our State Budget or making the public not in an energy crisis condition?” said Usman.
In the context of waste, Usman emphasised that several things must be considered. “Is the formation of the Energy Transition Task Force not a waste because we already have the National Energy Council,” he concluded.