MPR leadership urges government to secure national oil and gas supply
Jakarta — The Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (MPR), Eddy Soeparno, has urged the government, particularly the state-owned petroleum company Pertamina, to secure the nation’s oil and gas supply through diversifying sources from countries unaffected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Obtaining reliable suppliers of oil and gas is extremely important at this time,” Eddy said in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The recommendation was made by Eddy during a public lecture at Hasanuddin University in Makassar as part of the MPR Goes to Campus programme.
Eddy stated that the current urgency of energy security is equivalent to national food security. He noted that the industrial and transportation sectors play a crucial role in driving the national economy, and Indonesia’s national resilience is inseparable from energy security.
The political scientist from the University of Indonesia emphasised that global dependence, including Indonesia’s, on crude oil and gas remains substantial, given that industrial sectors such as petrochemicals, fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, synthetic fibres, and the transportation sector require oil and gas as raw materials and fuel.
“Currently there is no substitute for either,” he stated.
Eddy added that if the oil and gas supply is disrupted and Indonesia struggles to obtain fuel oil that has historically been imported, economic activity will slow or even halt entirely.
“It is clear that no cars, aeroplanes or ships can operate without fuel. Similarly, industrial sectors dependent on oil and gas raw materials will also cease operations,” he said.
“In other words, public mobility and production processes will be paralysed immediately,” he added.
“At present, reliability of supply is more important than availability of supply, as all countries that import oil and gas needs are seeking sources from other countries capable of guaranteeing supply availability,” he explained.
In such a situation, Eddy said, Indonesia could find itself “competing” with large oil and gas importing nations such as China, India, Japan and South Korea for supply certainty.
Eddy also encouraged accelerating the energy transition, including increasing fuel storage capacity, so that Indonesia’s strategic fuel reserve buffer increases from the current 20 days to 90 days in accordance with President Prabowo’s directive.
“Through renewable energy development, we will be able to reduce dependence on fossil fuels that have historically been imported. In addition to saving foreign exchange and strengthening domestic energy resilience, we will also obtain clean and green energy,” he said.
Eddy expressed hope that Indonesia’s fiscal resilience remains strong, given that budgetary needs to purchase expensive crude oil will burden all oil-importing countries, including Indonesia.
He also hoped that the Ministry of Finance has “prepared an umbrella before the rain” so that Indonesia’s oil and gas supply needs can be met even if prices spike and the rupiah weakens.
“We in the legislative body will certainly support various policies to create strong energy resilience in the future,” he said.