Indonesia took delivery of its first major Russian crude oil shipment at the Cilacap refinery on April 21, 2026, kicking off what could become one of the most consequential energy partnerships in Southeast Asia. The Arctic Novy grade cargo marks the beginning of a deal covering up to 150 million barrels of Russian crude at preferential pricing.
The agreement came together after Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto met with Vladimir Putin in April 2026. An initial commitment of 100 million barrels was agreed upon, with the rest presumably contingent on how smoothly things go.
A sanctions-proof supply chain, sort of
Indonesia’s state oil giant Pertamina, which would typically handle imports of this scale, has stepped aside entirely. Instead, Lemigas, a regulatory agency under Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, took over responsibility for managing the crude imports as of June 2026.
This wasn’t entirely a cold start, either. Indonesia had already received two smaller shipments of Russian crude in December 2025 and January 2026, both routed to the Balikpapan refinery in Borneo.
