Purbaya Fears Fuel Supply Halt, Urges Public to Prepare for Energy Crisis

Ongoing geopolitical escalation in the Middle East is disrupting energy supplies in various countries, including Indonesia. Facing dwindling supplies, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has warned the Indonesian public to prepare in case an energy crisis truly strikes.

The Philippines has officially declared a national energy emergency. Similarly, Bangladesh has announced that its country is facing a fuel oil crisis.

Purbaya stressed that an energy emergency is not due to the State Budget and Revenue (APBN) being insufficient to purchase crude oil, given the sharp spikes caused by this war. Rather than the high global oil prices, Purbaya is more concerned about the supply that could trigger an energy crisis.

“An energy emergency is not in the APBN. An energy emergency is if, for example, the supply stops—that’s what I’m afraid of. Not the price, but the supply not being there,” said Purbaya in Jakarta on Wednesday, 25 March 2026.

Purbaya stated that stocks are still maintained to date. However, he asked citizens to prepare to anticipate thinning fuel oil supplies in connection with tight security at the Strait of Hormuz.

“There is still supply. So if it’s called an emergency, no, but we must keep preparing going forward,” he said.

Furthermore, the state treasurer assured that the APBN is still adequate to face oil price surges and will not be changed until the end of 2026. Nevertheless, Purbaya will continue to follow directives from President Prabowo Subianto.

“I won’t change the APBN or existing subsidies until the point where prices might be very high later. At the current time, until the end of the year with current prices, we can still hold with the APBN, depending on the leadership’s decision later, but I offer that it’s safe,” explained Purbaya.

Purbaya continues to maintain energy subsidy allocations in the APBN. According to him, it is still too early to change fuel prices because adjustments must go through a calculation process based on average increases, not suddenly.

“Later if it rises (high), we’ll calculate again how much. So it’s not automatic suddenly to US$100, right? We calculate the average,” he asserted.