Indonesia considering to quit OPEC

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is considering a plan to quit from membership in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as Indonesia now has become an oil importer, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.

"At the last cabinet session, we considered whether we would stay in OPEC or quit while increasing domestic oil production," the President said at the opening of a National Development Planning Congress here Tuesday.

He said, Indonesia`s crude oil production was now less than one million barrels per day as the oil was coming from old wells.

The President expressed hope that in the next two or three years, the country could increase its crude oil production.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Boediono said the plan to quit OPEC was now being evaluated by the government.

"We are studying the plan," he said.

However, after leaving OPEC, Indonesia would still have a chance to rejoin the organization when its crude oil production had increased sufficiently.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman M Hidayat said the plan to quit from OPEC membership was not new as Indonesia had become a net oil importer.

"We will support it. The most important thing is that domestic supply can be maintained," he said. (*)