Indonesian state energy firm PT Pertamina is considering buying crude oil from Russia as it seeks oil for a newly revamped refinery, chief executive officer Nicke Widyawati said on Monday.

Speaking at a parliamentary hearing, she said amid current geopolitical tensions, Pertamina saw “an opportunity to buy from Russia at a good price.” She was referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Politically, there’s no problem as long as the company we are dealing with was not sanctioned. We have also discussed the payment arrangement, which may go through India,” she told parliament members.

Indonesia holds the G20 presidency this year and has said it will remain neutral amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has sparked the biggest humanitarian and geopolitical crisis in Europe since World War Two. The Indonesian government has raised concerns about the invasion but stopped short of condemning it.

Russia says it is a “special military operation”.

Nicke said Pertamina is currently in consultation with the Foreign Ministry and Indonesia’s central bank regarding the plan and has approached some Russian sellers to buy crude for testing at Pertamina’s refinery.

Pertamina is expected to finish revamping its Balongan refinery in May, Nicke said, which will allow the facility to process all types of crude.

“As of today, it can only process crude with low sulphur content, and this is expensive,” she said.

The upgrade of the Balongan refinery will add 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity this year to its current capacity of around 125,000 bpd.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Writing by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)