The recent suggestion by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia that private fuel stations should secure their supply directly from Pertamina through a business-to-business (B2B) arrangement reveals a troubling shortcut in Indonesia’s energy policy.

Shares of oil and gas company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk (PGAS), subsidiary of state oil and gas company Pertamina, ended higher by 2% to Rp1,700 on Tuesday, but still traded way below market average. At the last quoted price, PGAS was worth Rp41.3 trillion, also way below equity (Rp56.8 trillion). Why?

Shares of Vale Indonesia (INCO), pioneer of nickel processing in the country, ended slightly lower by 0.8% to Rp3,710 Monday (Sep 1) to make a market capitalization of Rp40 trillion. Vale was significantly smaller than fellow nickel miner and processor Trimegah Bangun (NCKL)/Harita Nickel (Rp67 trillion) and sister company Aneka Tambang/ANTM (Rp75 trillion).

President Prabowo Subianto made an interesting statement on Monday (Sep 1) after visiting police officers hospitalized from unrest over the weekend. Prabowo said law enforcement agencies are investigating perpetrators of the unrest and looting. 

Average price of crude palm oil (CPO) in July 2025 was only 5% above the same month last year, but Indonesia recorded 82.72% jump in export year-on-year to US$3.52 billion. In the first seven months of 2025, palm oil and derivatives contributed US$19.4 billion, an increase of nearly 38% year-on-year. What happened?

Indonesia welcomed 8.53 million visits of foreign tourists in the first seven months of 2025, an increase of 10.04% year-on-year. Vietnam, meanwhile, recorded 12.23 million foreign tourists in the same period, an increase of 22.5% from the corresponding period last year. 

Composite index of Indonesia Stock Exchange (IHSG) opened substantially lower by 3% this morning, dragged down by blue chip stocks. Major banking stocks like BCA, BRI, and Mandiri opened lower by more than 2% each. Telkom (TLKM) and Astra (ASII) also opened lower by more than 2%.

Financial market will start a new week digesting unrest in Indonesia and economic slowdown in China. While students skip Monday (Sep 1), they will likely return to the streets Tuesday even when political elites have pledged to accommodate some of their demands, including cancellation of rise in salary and perks for the lawmakers (DPR). 

So, the so-called Rp50 trillion-size ‘patriot bonds’ from sovereign wealth fund Danantara has already oversubscribed. “That should not be a surprise. Even if Danantara will scale up the bonds to Rp100 trillion, it will be oversubscribed several times because we have a lot of rich people, including corruptors, who can easily be blackmailed,” one banker commented.

Shares of Dian Swastatika Sentosa (DSSA), controlled by Widjaja Family (Sinarmas Group), ended higher by 2.3% to Rp97,150 on Thursday (Aug 28), making a market capitalization of Rp750 trillion, more than 22 times equity. It clearly has nothing to do with the group’s entry into geothermal business with First Gen Corporation.