Not long ago, about 70% of the crude running through Aster’s Bukom Island refinery in Singapore came from the Middle East. That share is shrinking fast. Business Insider Africa reported on September 10, 2026 that the refiner is buying from West Africa, Latin America, the United States and Canada instead, as the Iran war disrupts Gulf supplies to Asia.
Han Lih Kwong, managing director of Aster’s refinery and chemical assets, put the change down to the disruption of Gulf exports. According to Bloomberg, which Business Insider Africa cited, the company has bought more of crude grades it has handled before, though in smaller quantities each time. The aim is to keep the 300,000-barrel-a-day plant on Bukom supplied.
More tanks, more room to blend
Aster is also adding crude storage. Business Insider Africa said the extra tanks will let the refinery hold oil from several origins, mix different grades and tune the feedstock it runs. Han said some of the new capacity could be leased to other users.
Bigger stockpiles should give the company more freedom in how it buys, the outlet reported, especially while Middle Eastern exports stay under pressure.
The pivot, as the outlet tells it, is a response to conflicts that are redrawing the usual oil trade patterns. Reaching into West African and Latin American markets hands the Singapore plant more options when one supply line goes quiet. Storage, in effect, is the cushion that makes those extra choices usable.
Who runs the refinery
Aster Chemicals and Energy is a joint venture between Indonesia’s Chandra Asri Group and the commodities trader Glencore. The report describes its move as part of a wider scramble among Asian refiners, many of which have leaned heavily on Gulf barrels and are now looking farther afield. For West African producers, in particular, that means a larger customer in the Asian market.
The report did not give volumes, prices or the names of specific suppliers, and it did not say when the old Gulf flows might return.
