Fajarasia.id – Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is intensifying its investigation into alleged corruption involving crude oil and refinery product procurement at Pertamina Energy Trading Limited (Petral) and Pertamina Energy Service Pte Ltd (PES) during the 2009–2015 period. Given the complexity of cross-border transactions, the agency is now working with anti-corruption bodies in Singapore, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.
Acting Deputy for Enforcement and Execution, Asep Guntur Rahayu, revealed that investigators recently returned from Singapore carrying crucial documents. Initial findings suggest that oil purchases, which were claimed to be direct transactions between National Oil Companies (NOCs), were in fact a façade.
“The documents appear to show direct purchases from NOCs, but the oil actually came from third parties. The supply chain was only made longer,” Asep explained at KPK headquarters on Thursday (Nov. 20, 2025).
According to Asep, a policy introduced during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration aimed to eliminate brokers and allow Petral to buy directly from foreign state-owned oil producers. However, KPK suspects the scheme was manipulated, resulting in inflated oil prices for Indonesia.
International Cooperation
To verify these suspicions, KPK is expanding cooperation with foreign anti-corruption agencies. In Malaysia, the commission will coordinate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to examine transactions involving Petronas. In Saudi Arabia, KPK will work with Nazaha, the kingdom’s oversight and anti-corruption authority, to investigate claims of purchases from Saudi Aramco.
“We want to confirm whether the transactions were truly direct with Petronas or Aramco, or merely through intermediaries,” Asep stressed.
The move has full support from KPK Chairman Setyo Budiyanto, who noted that Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) has already opened access to key evidence, given Petral’s base of operations in the city-state.
Alleged State Losses
The Petral case, now under KPK’s jurisdiction, covers the 2009–2015 period and is believed to have caused state losses amounting to millions of U.S. dollars. The case was initially handled by the Attorney General’s Office but later transferred to KPK, which had already issued an investigation order (sprindik) and built a strong database from earlier case developments.
