US Grants Indonesia Refinery Loan Despite Biden Climate Vow (1)

US Export-Import Bank leaders voted Thursday to lend $99.7 million to expand an oil refinery in Indonesia, bucking President Joe Biden’s promise to stop steering public money to most foreign fossil fuel projects.

The financing plan approved in a closed-door meeting of the independent credit agency’s board of directors is set to help bolster gasoline production by 101,000 barrels per day at the PT Kilang Pertamina Balikpapan Petroleum Refinery. The loan’s approval — the first major Ex-Im bank decision on a fossil fuel project since Biden became president and promised to curb such public funding support — drew ...