Biden Climate Vow Imperils Indonesian Oil Refinery Loan
- Export-Import Bank backs off planned loan to expand refinery
- US vowed to halt funding most foreign fossil fuel projects
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The US Export-Import Bank is backing off a plan to lend $99.7 million for an oil refinery expansion in Indonesia, after warnings the support would violate a pledge made by President Joe Biden to stop steering public dollars to foreign fossil fuel projects.
Directors of the credit agency had been set to vote Thursday on the plan, which would help boost gasoline production by 101,000 barrels per day at the PT Kilang Pertamina Balikpapan Petroleum Refinery. But the proposed financing was yanked from the ex-im bank board’s meeting agenda on Wednesday after an outcry from environmental activists, who say approval would be a betrayal of Biden’s commitments to combat climate change.