Prabowo Officially Issues Regulation Allowing BLUs to Import Oil and LPG
President Prabowo Subianto has officially issued Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 26 of 2026 on the Procurement of Crude Oil, Petroleum Products (BBM), and/or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for National Energy Security. This regulation serves as the new legal framework for the government to ensure national energy availability, including allowing energy sector Public Service Bodies (BLUs) to import oil and petroleum products. The regulation was officially signed by President Prabowo on 30 April 2026.
In Article 2, the regulation states that its primary aim is to ensure proper management of crude oil, petroleum products, and LPG procurement, while enhancing supply continuity, energy system reliability, and national energy security. The scope covers both domestic and imported energy procurement.
For domestic procurement, Article 3 stipulates that crude oil comes from national upstream oil and gas activities. Meanwhile, petroleum products and LPG are sourced from refineries operated by energy sector businesses.
Article 4 outlines the import procurement mechanism, with the government opening three channels: inter-governmental cooperation, central government cooperation with foreign suppliers, and energy sector businesses collaborating with international suppliers.
In cases where import procurement is based on inter-governmental agreements or central government cooperation with foreign suppliers as specified in Article 4(1)(a) and (b), imports may be carried out by energy sector BLUs and/or state-owned enterprises (BUMNs), states Article 4(2) of the regulation.
Conversely, the regulation also provides greater flexibility in emergency situations. Article 5(1) states that BLUs and BUMNs may import under the following criteria:
geopolitical conditions that could disrupt global availability of crude oil, petroleum products, and/or LPG;
supply chain disruptions for crude oil, petroleum products, and/or LPG domestically or internationally;
disasters or force majeure events in supplier countries;
supply shortages causing significant price fluctuations; or
national minimum reserves of crude oil, petroleum products, and/or LPG falling below the threshold.
The Minister shall determine emergency situations based on the criteria outlined in paragraph 1, states Article 5(2).
Interestingly, Article 5(3) permits price variations in emergency imports, based on quantity, product type, country of origin, or delivery time as per purchase contract agreements.
Regarding financing, Article 6 states that BLU-led imports may be funded through internal BLU resources or other legitimate sources as per applicable laws.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Yuliot Tanjung stated the regulation was designed to provide greater flexibility in procuring crude oil, petroleum products, and LPG amid global energy supply dynamics. Previously, foreign oil procurement was typically handled by state-owned enterprises such as Pertamina.
Additionally, this allows energy sector BLUs to handle procurement. The regulation in Perpres 26 has been structured to accommodate variations in pricing, procurement timing, country of origin, and delivery schedules,” Tanjung said at the ESDM Ministry on Friday, 29 May 2026.
However, Tanjung confirmed the government has no plans to establish new BLUs specifically for oil imports. Instead, it will optimise existing institutions under the ESDM Ministry, such as Lemigas.
Meanwhile, when asked if the scheme relates to plans to import oil from Russia, Tanjung explained the government does not limit supply sources to a single country.
He stated Indonesia remains open to sourcing oil from various countries based on global market needs and conditions.
“We can import from other countries such as Nigeria or Angola. This flexibility allows for quicker response by diversifying sources. Both BUMNs and BLUs can handle this,” Tanjung said.