Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said on Thursday, October 22, that Indonesia would examine its energy export agreements and could suspend supplies to nations it regarded as disrespectful, The Straits Times reported. Speaking in Jakarta at a ceremony commissioning gas production facilities, he named no country and pointed to no specific dispute.

Source: The Straits Times via ASEAN Coverage

Bahlil called for international disagreements to be addressed through respectful dialogue, and said Jakarta was still prepared to negotiate energy supply deals with nations that recognised Indonesia as an equal — including countries with no current contracts, the report said.

The warning followed a sharper comment a day earlier. After a plenary cabinet meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday evening, October 21, Bahlil told reporters he might consider not extending gas export contracts with neighbouring countries, because Indonesia had to 'survive' by meeting domestic needs first, IDNFinancials reported. 'So if other countries have a different view of us, they should be careful,' he said, again without specifying which countries he meant.

Source: IDNFinancials

Bahlil linked the stance to a directive from President Prabowo Subianto, who has urged ministers to protect natural resources for Indonesians' benefit and has said difficult circumstances mean the country must put its survival and national interests first. IDNFinancials noted the remarks came amid outside comment on Indonesia's domestic situation, from the handling of forest and land fires to capital-market reform — including a reported suspicion in Indonesia that Singapore had pushed index provider MSCI to downgrade Indonesia's market status, an allegation Singapore has officially denied.

Why Singapore is watching closely

For Singapore, Indonesia is a major natural gas supplier. Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong told Singapore's Parliament in September 2025 that the existing gas import contracts would expire as 2028 ended. The two countries are also negotiating Indonesian low-carbon electricity supplies for Singapore; Bahlil said on October 19 that differences on pricing had prevented agreement, and on October 7 he announced a review of electricity export arrangements aimed at increasing Indonesia's economic benefits.

Conditional licences from Singapore's Energy Market Authority cover six Indonesian electricity import projects representing 3 gigawatts of capacity, and the two countries are pursuing cross-border electricity projects of at least 3.4 gigawatts by 2035 — deals whose terms could now be shaped by Jakarta's harder line on energy exports.