Indonesia Studying Withdrawal From OPEC, Purnomo Says

Indonesia may quit the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as falling crude oil production pushes it closer to becoming a net importer of the fuel.

“We have set up a team to study whether or not we should stay in OPEC,” Indonesian Oil Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro told a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta today. “The result will be submitted to a Cabinet meeting, because there are political matters involved.”

Opponents of Indonesia’s OPEC membership cite the country’s falling oil production and periodic need to import more oil than it exports. Indonesia’s oil output has fallen 5 percent annually for the last five years to less than a million barrels a day.

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