RI warned against backing oil embargo
RI warned against backing oil embargo
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government must not follow calls to use the threat of an
oil embargo against countries supporting Israel as it would only
cause more damage to Indonesia, warned Subroto, a former energy
minister and ex-OPEC secretary-general.
Subroto also said that it was unlikely for Saudi Arabia, the
largest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC), to support the call because it preferred a
peaceful alternative.
"It will only do more harm to Indonesia," he told The Jakarta
Post, pointing out that the U.S., seen as the primary supporter
of Israel, could use its anti-terrorism campaign against
Indonesia if it supports the oil embargo threat.
Iraq and Iran urged Arab nations and Muslim oil-producing
countries on Tuesday to launch a concerted oil embargo to help
force Israel out of Palestinian territory. The call was made at
the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) foreign ministers
conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, and
it is also a member of OPEC, which supplies more than 20 million
barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to the 76 million bpd global
market.
An oil embargo was last used by Arab nations in 1973 and that
boosted oil prices and severely hit the economies of Western
countries.
As the U.S. and other developed nations are struggling to lift
themselves out of the current economic downturn, a jump in oil
prices will have severe implications to these economies.
Oil prices steadied at six-month highs on Tuesday amid a cool
response from oil countries to Iraq's threat to cut off supplies
to the West.
International benchmark Brent crude oil was hovering at
US$26.78 per barrel.
But OIC oil-producing members seemed to be less enthusiastic
in supporting calls for an oil embargo.
"We have to be realistic when talking about using oil as a
weapon. This is a double-edged sword that will do more harm to us
than the United States both in the short term and in the long
term," a Kuwaiti delegate told Reuters on the sidelines of the
OIC conference.
Indonesian Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
Mahendra, who attended the OIC meeting, also said that the use of
oil as a weapon was "quite impossible".
"It is not easy to reach a consensus in OPEC on the oil price,
it would be even more difficult to agree on an oil embargo. I
think it would be quite impossible," he said.
Instead of supporting an oil embargo, the Indonesian
government urged the United Nations Security Council to launch
concrete efforts to deal with the heated situation in Ramallah,
in the West Bank.
Foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said Indonesia was
ready to support such actions under the auspices of the UN.
"We would like the security council to see through their own
decisions. Indonesia will contribute ideas and support concrete
efforts made by the security council," Marty told The Jakarta
Post on Tuesday.
The UN security council has issued Resolutions No. 242, 338
and 425, which acknowledge the existence of the Palestinian state
and urge the Israelis to return land they have seized.
Recently, the UN security council issued a resolution urging a
"meaningful cease-fire" and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from
conflict-prone areas due to the heated situation in Ramallah.