The government expects state-owned oil giant Pertamina to increase domestic oil production while the country reduces consumption in order that Indonesia can stop importing the commodity by 2026 in an effort to curb the oil and gas trade deficit. To achieve that, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry expects Pertamina to complete five multi-billion dollar refinery projects between 2022 and 2026. The refineries will produce oil-based fuel and biofuel. “By 2026, fuel demand and production will be equal,” the ministry’s freshly appointed oil and gas director general, Tutuka Ariadji, told lawmakers at a hearing in Jakarta on Nov. 16. The government is on a campaign to lower Indonesia’s oil and gas trade deficit, which undermines the rising overall trade surplus recorded by the country so far this year. Read also: Indonesia books first current account su...