BP has sold its entire 49.9% stake in its Indonesian fuel station joint venture to its local partner, AKR Corporindo, for $14.22 million, leaving the second of the big Western oil companies to retreat from Indonesia's petrol retail market in as many weeks.

Two AKR subsidiaries, PT Anugerah Krida Retailindo and PT Andahanesa Abadi, bought 11,444,565 shares of PT Aneka Petroindo Raya, the company that runs the BP-AKR station network, AKR said in a disclosure on Monday. The deal lifts the AKR group's holding in the venture from 50.1% to 100%. Local media put the price at about Rp257 billion to Rp258 billion.

For investors in Asia, the sale is small in dollar terms but telling. Indonesia's private fuel retailers spent much of the past year rationing supply after the government tightened their access to imported fuel. Shell has already handed its stations to a local buyer. With BP out of the equity, both oil majors' station networks are now locally owned.

AKR takes full control of BP-AKR stations

The joint venture dates to April 5, 2017, when BP and AKR signed the agreement that created the BP-AKR brand, according to the Jakarta Globe. The share purchase agreement for the exit was executed on Nov. 6.

AKR President Director Haryanto Adikoesoemo said the transaction would not have a material adverse effect on the company's operations, legal standing, financial condition or business continuity, the Jakarta Globe reported. AKR described the divestment as part of BP's strategy to simplify its portfolio, The Edge Malaysia reported.

BP framed the move the same way. James Tehubijuluw, BP's head of country for Indonesia, told CNBC Indonesia the sale was part of the group's continuing effort to reshape its portfolio to support growth. BP said in a statement that the decision did not change Indonesia's importance to the company.

The stations will keep the BP-AKR name, according to CNBC Indonesia. Neither company disclosed how many sites are in the network or whether BP will keep supplying fuel or licensing its brand over the long term. The Jakarta Globe noted that AKR left those questions, and its longer-term plans for the network, unanswered.

AKR is listed in Jakarta under the ticker AKRA. Owning the retail chain outright gives it the full margin on station sales, and the full exposure to Indonesia's fuel rules.

Shell and BP leave after a year of import curbs

The timing follows a difficult stretch for private fuel retailers. Indonesia's energy ministry tightened direct fuel imports by private companies last year, which led to shortages at private stations, including those run by BP and Shell, The Edge Malaysia reported. Once their import quotas ran out, private retailers were told to buy base fuel from state-owned Pertamina.

That arrangement left foreign brands competing at the pump against a state company that also controlled part of their supply.

Shell moved first. Shell Indonesia completed the transfer on Oct. 30 of its Indonesian station business to PT Isla Energy Indonesia, part of the SEFAS Group, under a revised sale and purchase agreement, according to CNBC Indonesia. The package covered about 200 Shell stations, more than 160 of them company-owned, along with related supply and distribution operations and the Gresik fuel terminal.

The Shell stations continue to sell Shell-branded fuel under a licence agreement, and Shell kept its lubricants business out of the sale, CNBC Indonesia reported. Shell started a grease manufacturing plant in Indonesia in September with capacity of up to 12,000 tons a year.

What the deals mean for investors

Neither exit means the oil majors are leaving Indonesia altogether. Both are holding on to their brands at the pump through licences or the existing network name, and Shell is still investing in lubricants. What they are giving up is ownership of the capital-heavy retail operations in a market where the state sets the rules on fuel supply.

For local buyers the trade-off runs the other way. AKR and SEFAS now carry the full economics of their station networks, along with the policy risk that pushed their partners out. How the energy ministry sets private import quotas for next year will be the first test of whether full ownership pays.

AKR has not said whether it will expand the BP-AKR network under sole ownership. Its next quarterly results, along with any update on the brand and supply arrangements with BP, will show how the company plans to use the stations it now controls.