RI to quit OPEC amid world oil price hikes

While polemics were going on on its plan to increase domestic fuel oil prices prompted by world crude price hikes, the Indonesian government came up this week with an idea to quit the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The idea is plausible. Indonesia is no longer a net oil exporting country. The volume of its imports has exceeded its exports. Thus, Indonesia is no longer an exporting country, which is a plausible reason to quit the OPEC.

The government`s intention to say a goodbye to the oil cartel was hailed by the House of Representatives (DPR), yet a number of analysts still saw some benefits if Indonesia maintained its membership in the organization.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said this week Indonesia was likely to quit OPEC after 2008. The plan to quit the oil cartel surfaced at a limited cabinet meeting at the presidential office.

"This year we have already paid our membership fee, so that possibly will quit only after 2009," Purnomo Yusgiantoro said.

The government still has to study the consequences of its plan to quit OPEC. "It (the plan) is just the result of talks at a cabinet meeting. So, we need to study its consequences in detail."

The plan was based on the fact that Indonesia was no longer a net oil exporter, as it had imported oil in large quantities, he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said Indonesia is no longer an oil exporting country but it had become an oil importing nation.

"That`s why at a limited cabinet session, we considered a plan to temporarily quit as an OPEC member while at the same time increasing our oil production," the President said.

The House of Representatives` Energy Commission supported the government plan. The commission`s chief Airlangga Hartarto said as an oil importer now Indonesia is disadvantaged of its OPEC membership. ...
"OPEC is a cartel