JakartaGlobe-July 9, 2025
Indonesian state-run energy firm Pertamina had inked several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with its American counterparts, like the Texas-based oil giant ExxonMobil, as a sweetener in the ongoing tariff talks. The Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DC, announced Wednesday that it was the company’s refining subsidiary, Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI), that had signed the deals. KPI struck an MoU with ExxonMobil, and another one with KDT Global Resources, a trading firm specializing in energy products. Major American energy company Chevron and KPI also signed an MoU that day. Indonesia is currently trying to appease US President Donald Trump’s tariff wrath after the American leader threatened to impose a 32 percent tariff on all Indonesian goods starting August 1. Southeast Asia’s largest economy has proposed bumping up its energy imports from the US. Fadjar Djoko Santoso, the vice president for corporate communications at Pertamina, told the Jakarta Globethat the pacts were related to “optimizing the feedstock or crude oil for national energy security”. Fadjar, however, could not say the value of these MoUs, saying that they were only general agreements thus far. He added: “So there is no number yet.” Pertamina was not the only Indonesian company that would bring home some fresh deals with American enterprises, according to the embassy. Indonesia’s Wheat Producer and US Wheat Associates had joined forces that day. Starch derivative product producer Sorini Agro Asia Corporindo and food giant Cargill signed a corn purchase-related MoU. There was a letter between the Export Promotion Association, Cotton Council International, and Indonesia’s Textile Association. Last but not least is an MoU between Indonesian food company FKS Group and the New Orleans-based Zen-Noh Grain Corp on soybean and soybean meal purchases. The embassy did not provide the details of each partnership. Read more at:
