Reasons Why the Attorney General's Office Separated the Auction of Crude Oil and Iranian Vessel

The Asset Recovery Agency (BPA) of the Attorney General’s Office has revealed the reasons behind separating the auction of crude oil cargo from the Iranian tanker MT Arman 114. Previously, both assets involved in an environmental pollution case were auctioned as a single package, but failed to attract buyers.

The Head of the Attorney General’s Office BPA, Kuntadi, explained that combining the oil cargo and the tanker made the criteria for potential buyers extremely limited. This scarcity of eligible bidders caused the previous auctions to fail multiple times. “Previously, it failed two or three times, so we separated them. Because the buyer had to be a single package—either a refinery permit holder or a ship permit holder—and those are very limited, so we split them,” Kered Kuntadi told reporters at the BPA Fair 2026 in South Jakarta on Monday (18/5/2026).

Following the separation, the crude oil became the highest-selling item at the BPA Fair. The oil was successfully sold to Pertamina Patra Niaga for Rp 900 billion. “The most fantastic item we sold was certainly the crude oil. During the pre-event stage, we had a reserve price of around Rp 800 billion, and it eventually sold for over Rp 900 billion. There was an increase,” Kuntadi noted.

Although the crude oil has been sold, the MT Arman 114 tanker has not yet been auctioned. Kuntadi stated that the reserve price for the tanker is approximately Rp 200 billion. Despite the lack of buyers so far, Kuntadi remains optimistic that the vessel will soon be sold, citing its high economic value in the market. “There are no obstacles. As long as the item has value, it will definitely sell. A ship of that length and motor power certainly still holds value,” he said.

It was previously reported that the Attorney General’s Office BPA had conducted an auction for the MT Arman 114 supertanker carrying 1.2 million barrels of light crude oil. This auction was a continuation of a previous period that failed due to a lack of qualified bidders. The Head of the Attorney General’s Office’s Public Relations, Anang Supriatna, stated that the ship was originally auctioned as a single package with a value of Rp 1.1 trillion via the official Directorate General of State Assets auction website, lelang.go.id.

The auction object is a South Korean-built tanker from 1997, measuring 330.27 metres in length and 58 metres in width, with a gross tonnage of 156,880 tons and carrying 1,245,166.9 barrels of light crude oil. The supertanker was seized from convict Mohammed Abdelaziz Mohamed Hatiba in relation to the MT Arman 114 case in the North Natuna Sea. The ship’s captain was also sentenced to a fine of Rp 5 billion.