Crude Oil's Thriving Black Market

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ignites a black market fever for cheap crude oil. Pertamina refuses it, Bakamla captures a tanker transporting the oil.

Retno Sulistyowati

July 31, 2023

IT has been almost a month since supertanker MT Arman 114 dropped anchor at Batam’s Batu Ampar Harbor, Riau Islands. The Maritime and Security Agency (Bakamla) stopped all activities on the Iranian-flagged, very large crude carrier on Friday, July 7. The tanker is suspected of transferring oil in the Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Natuna waters. “To this day, we are still holding the tanker,” said Bakamla s

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