Indonesia dismisses fears of cooking oil shortage as B50 biodiesel program expands

Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Indonesia has rejected public concerns that the government’s upcoming B50 biodiesel program will cause a shortage of cooking oil due to increased use of crude palm oil (CPO), reports Tempo English. “There is no problem with the supply of cooking oil,” Bahlil said, as reported by Antara on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. Both biodiesel and cooking oil use CPO as their main ingredient. According to the Ministry of Trade’s Decree No. 1531 of 2022, national cooking oil production requires about 416,000 tons of CPO per month, or roughly 4.99 million tons a year. In comparison, the B50 mandate — which blends 50 percent biodiesel with regular diesel — will need around 5.3 million tons of CPO annually. To ensure sufficient supply, Bahlil said the government is preparing three strategies: increasing productivity on existing plantations, developing new oil palm areas, and adjusting exports through the Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) ...