|
Indonesia wants to continue Opec production cuts
REUTERS
Jakarta, Nov 7: Indonesia's energy minister on Friday said OPEC output cuts had been effective and were worth keeping, but wanted Jakarta to have a fair quota. "Cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC have indeed brought stable oil prices. Why don't we make an effort to continue them," Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters. When asked whether Indonesia would defend OPEC cuts beyond March, he said: "Specifically, we have not formulated a decision. However, we have to struggle for price stability." The current agreement among the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to restrict oil supplies expires at the end of next March. But Yudhoyono said Indonesia, widely believed to be exceeding its quota of 1.187 million barrels-per-day, wanted a fair share of agreed production levels within the cartel. "We will study our (production) capacity and what we can achieve from a fair quota...we want as high as possible revenue with a fair quota," he said. "If our revenue improves...that is not a bad option," he said whenasked if Indonesia would seek a quota increase. Oil industry sources said Indonesia produced around 1.34 million bpd of crude in October and 150,000 bpd of condensate. Indonesia, which has been in a prolonged economic recession, still relies heavily on oil exports. Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
|