The Oil Imports Corruption Opera

March 11, 2025 | 02:40 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - There is still much that is strange following the revelations about the alleged corruption involving Pertamina oil imports. There must be more than simply a change of players.

WITH its many exciting subplots, the current investigation by the Attorney General’s Office into the oil imports corruption was like a soap opera. People’s emotions were stirred because the AGO said that the losses to the state amounted to a staggering Rp193.7 trillion in 2023 alone, and the case dated back to 2018.

People became increasingly annoyed because the AGO also announced that Pertamax fuel sold at Pertamina gas stations actually had a research octane number (RON) of 88, or was RON 90 fuel mixed with additives to increase its octane number. Having inflamed public sentiment, the AGO garnered public support. But it seems that it went too far. As a result of the information from the AGO, people’s trust in Pertamina and the government fell.

The story turned into an anticlimax. The AGO was busy correcting its own statement by saying that Pertamax, now being sold, was of good quality. The addition of additives to change the RON number was not Pertamina policy but was only the actions of the suspects. And the AGO even changed the word “mixed” to “blended,” despite it having the same meaning.

This is the latest example of legal populism. Portraying itself as courageously exposing huge losses to the state, the AGO is encouraging the people to focus on fantastic numbers but obscuring the involvement of people who should take responsibility. On top of this, the figures for state losses announced by the AGO have been proved to be incorrect.

In the case involving tycoon Surya Darmadi, the court corrected the figure for financial and economic losses to the state announced by the AGO from Rp78.8 trillion to Rp2.6 trillion. In the tin corruption case, the court did agree that the losses to the state amounted to Rp300 trillion, comprising financial losses to the state and environmental damage, including the cost of restoration. But it has not been possible to recover these losses. From the outset, the methods used to calculate this figure were sidelined by gossip about the involvement of suspect Harvey Moeis and his wife, celebrity Sandra Dewi, as well as their lavish lifestyle.

In the case of the Pertamina oil imports, the origin of the Rp193.7 trillion state loss figure is questionable. It turns out that one claim for losses to the state originated from the figures for subsidies and compensation for fuel in the 2023 State Budget, amounting to Rp147 trillion. If the figure for losses to the state calculated by the AGO is not proven in court, we can guess the reason from the start.

It seems that law enforcement agencies are trying to distract public attention from the substance of the case. We know that oil imports are a lucrative business. There are opportunities for corruption from the manipulation of fuel stocks at refineries in order to provide justification for imports and arrangements for the supply and price of fuel, to shipments from overseas. The business is controlled by a small number of people with the same players. The involvement of Muhammad Kerry Adrianto Riza, one of the suspects, shows that the business network of his father, oil tycoon Muhammad Riza Chalid, is still strong. Having been under the spotlight since the time when oil was procured by Pertamina Energy Trading Limited or Petral, a company continually beset with problems, Riza has remained untouched by the law.

With a strong business network overseas, it is difficult to dislodge Riza from the domestic procurement of oil. Another factor is that he has good relations with many politicians from various political parties. An investigation by this magazine found that tycoons who failed to get a share of the business plotted to bring him down using a legal case. This was possible because one of Riza’s rivals in the oil business is at the heart of the government.

Corruption relating to oil imports must be eradicated. But if a scandal is only uncovered in order to eliminate an old player, it will be clear that the AGO is only being used as a tool of the authorities. After all, the AGO said at the outset that a businessperson and his brother, who is a member of the cabinet, are not involved in the case under investigation.

A change in players will not lead to improvements in the management of oil imports. As the Indonesian saying goes, after escaping from the mouth of the tiger, we are eaten by the hyenas.

Read the Complete Story in Tempo English Magazine

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