Indonesia turns net oil importer; suspends OPEC membership
10 Sep 2008
Mumbai: Indonesia had suspended its membership of the Organisation of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) after the country became a net importer of oil, the oil cartel said in a statement in Vienna.
''The conference regretfully accepted the wish of Indonesia to suspend its full membership in the organisation and recorded its hope the country would be in a position to rejoin the organisation in the not too distant future,'' OPEC said in a statement at the end of a meeting.
Indonesia, the smallest member of OPEC and the only one from Southeast Asia, had announced its intention to withdraw from the oil exporters' cartel as it had become a net oil importer in late May.
Indonesia, however, could rejoin OPEC if its production increased in line with an ongoing effort to boost capacity after years of declining investment, energy and mineral resources minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said.
''If our production comes back again to a level that gives us the status of a net oil exporter then I think we can go back to OPEC," he said.
Indonesia, which joined OPEC in 1961, has been unable to bring enough of its 4.37 billion barrels in proven reserves to the market while other OPEC members have enjoyed windfall profits on the back of rising oil prices.
OPEC has also been criticised for its lack of concern for smaller members, which suffer from the cartel's reluctance to boost supply.
Part of the blame also goes to past governments that have failed to manage Indonesia's abundant oil and gas riches. A withdrawal from OPEC could also boost Indonesia's spending on oil production, some Indonesian officials point out.
