Indonesia looks to India & China for fuel supplies

New Delhi: Southeast Asia's biggest country Indonesia is looking to procure gasoline from India and China to support its growing economy and large population amid sharply higher global crude oil prices due to the West Asia crisis.

Indonesian energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia is scheduled to travel to India this week for talks aimed at securing gasoline imports. "I will travel to several countries, including India and China, to ensure supplies," Lahadalia said recently in Jakarta.

"We cannot predict how long the tension in the Middle East will go on for, so President Prabowo has instructed us to find other alternatives for energy supply," he said.


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The minister didn't disclose the quantities of gasoline Indonesia plans to import from the alternative sources.

Indonesia is facing severe fuel supply disruptions amid surging demand and distribution bottlenecks in the backdrop of global geopolitical uncertainties, said people familiar with the developments.

Indonesia's Ombudsman said earlier this month that fuel supply disruptions have been reported in several provinces including Bali, North Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Papua, and West Kalimantan, with vehicle queues stretching to around 1 km in several locations.