# Indonesia Says It Will Keep Buying Russian Crude Where the Purchases Comply With Rules

Jakarta's position, stated as its president arrives at the BRICS summit, shows how little Western restrictions now constrain Asian buyers of discounted Russian oil.

- Published: 2026-09-12T05:16:28.464Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-09-12/indonesia-says-it-will-keep-buying-russian-crude-where-the-p
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: markets
- Sources: [Antara](https://en.antaranews.com/news/431075/indonesia-to-continue-russian-oil-imports-if-compliant-minister), [TASS](https://tass.ru/ekonomika/28105229)

Indonesia's energy and mineral resources minister, Bahlil Lahadalia, confirmed that the country will [continue importing Russian oil](https://en.antaranews.com/news/431075/indonesia-to-continue-russian-oil-imports-if-compliant-minister) as long as the transactions satisfy applicable rules. The statement came as President Prabowo Subianto travelled to New Delhi for the BRICS summit, and it tracks the approach that India and China have taken since 2022, which is to treat sanctions as a compliance question rather than a political one.

The economics are straightforward for an importing economy facing Brent near $106 a barrel. Discounted Russian barrels reduce the fuel import bill and the subsidy cost that follows it. The political economy is just as straightforward. Every additional Asian buyer reduces the marginal effect of Western restrictions on Russian export revenue and strengthens the payment and shipping arrangements built outside dollar clearing.

Russia's own domestic fuel market is under strain at the same time. Kazakhstan's energy ministry [denied reports that it was supplying AI-92 grade petrol to Russia](https://tass.ru/ekonomika/28105229), according to TASS. The denial is itself informative, because such reports circulate when Russian refining capacity is constrained. Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russian refineries have repeatedly cut processing runs this year, which can leave a major crude exporter short of finished fuel at home while continuing to sell crude abroad.

The two facts describe one structure. Russian crude finds buyers in Asia at a discount, while the refined products Russia needs domestically become the pressure point.

## What this means

Sanctions on Russian crude now function as a discount mechanism rather than a volume constraint, which transfers value from Russian producers to Asian refiners and shipping intermediaries while leaving Moscow's export volumes broadly intact. Indonesian and Indian refiners gain margin, European refiners paying full market prices lose competitiveness, and the dollar-clearing system loses another slice of transaction volume. The vulnerable point is Russian refining, because strikes that cut domestic petrol and diesel output force either imports or rationing regardless of how much crude Russia sells.

## What to watch

- Whether Indonesian state refiner Pertamina signs term contracts for Russian crude rather than spot cargoes, which would make the arrangement structural.
- Russian domestic petrol and diesel availability and any further import arrangements with Central Asian neighbours, the clearest indicator of refinery damage.
- The discount on Russian Urals crude against Brent, which shows how much bargaining power buyers still hold as oil prices rise.