Indonesia Minister of Energy and Mining Industry Sudirman Said said that the country will become an equal OPEC member in December 2015.
“We have received an official confirmation from the OPEC General Secretary that all members welcome Indonesia as an equal member of the organization,” Jakarta Globe newspaper quotes Minister as saying.
In June 2015 Minister said that the country hopes to restore its membership in the OPEC by the forthcoming OPEC session, which is due to be held in Vienna on December 4, 2015.
Indonesia is the biggest oil maker in the South East Asia, but in the early 2000s it became its net importer. Although Jakarta suspended its membership in OPEC on January 1, 2009, it has been invited to the OPEC sessions as an observer. Indonesian government is going to increase crude oil production, which now totals about 830,000 barrels a day, because the local consumption continues to grow.