Indonesia plans to pull out of OPEC<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has set up a team tasked with reviewing
\nIndonesia's membership of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
\nCountries (OPEC) due to the country's falling crude oil
\nproduction, which is bringing the country closer to becoming a
\nnet fuel importer.<\/p>\n
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
\ntold a Monday hearing with the House of Representatives' mining
\nand environment commission that despite the advantages of being a
\nmember of the oil cartel, the country faced several problems in
\nmaintaining its membership.<\/p>\n
\"We are studying whether we are already a net oil importer and
\nthus no longer eligible to be an OPEC member,\" the minister said.
\n\"The team will forward the results of the study to the Cabinet as
\nany plan for our withdrawal from OPEC will be a diplomatic
\nissue.\"<\/p>\n
The team is led by Rachmat Sudibyo, a former chairman of the
\nOil and Gas Upstream Regulatory Agency (BP Migas).<\/p>\n
Purnomo said that Indonesia's crude oil imports and exports
\nwere roughly in balance, but that there were some disparities in
\nthe import and export value of oil products.<\/p>\n
The ministry's Director General for Oil and Gas Iin Arifin
\nTakhyan said Indonesia was a net oil importer for four months of
\nlast year. The country's oil output has fallen by 5 percent
\nannually over the last decade to less than one million barrels
\nper day (bpd).<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the country's crude oil exports dropped
\nto 30,000 bpd in 2004 compared to 100,000 bpd in 2003.<\/p>\n
Reports from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said that oil
\nand gas imports -- including both crude oil and oil products --
\nincreased sharply by 52.36 percent in 2004.<\/p>\n
The increasing imports were due to declining oil production
\nfrom the country's aging oil fields and rising domestic demand of
\nup to 7 percent per year.<\/p>\n
Purnomo said that any plan to withdraw from OPEC would have to be a
\npolitical decision by the government as it \"involves our
\ndiplomatic ties with other OPEC members, especially the gulf
\ncountries.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia joined OPEC in 1962, two years after Iran, Iraq,
\nKuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela established the group.<\/p>\n
Last month, Indonesia, the only OPEC member in Southeast Asia,
\nonly produced 952,600 bpd of crude, well below its 1.4 million
\nbpd quota.<\/p>\n
House energy commission members, who backed the withdrawal of
\nthe country from OPEC, said the $2 million annual membership fee
\nwas to expensive in light of the benefits received.<\/p>\n
\"The commission recommends that the government withdraw from
\nOPEC as it is no longer beneficial for us to stay in the
\norganization,\" the legislators said in their response to Monday's
\nhearing.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-plans-to-pull-out-of-opec-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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