Indonesia against OPEC emergency meeting

Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday that Indonesia saw no need to hold an emergency meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to raise crude oil production.

"Indonesia's opinion is that an emergency meeting is not necessary," Susilo Bambang said, commenting on a Thursday night meeting with OPEC secretary-general Rilwanu Lukman, who asked him about Indonesia's position over Saudi Arabia's proposal to hold an extraordinary meeting on July 18.

Crude oil prices have continued to soar, despite OPEC's decision in June to hike production by 700,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Commenting on the trend, Bambang said Indonesia would refer to the response mechanism that OPEC had agreed upon and pointed that under the response mechanism, OPEC would raise its output by another 500,000 bpd only if oil prices remained over US$28 per barrel for 20 consecutive market days.

"Indonesia suggests that we wait for the 20 market days to pass and afterward OPEC can take action," he said, adding that an emergency meeting would only have a negative psychological effect on the market.

However, he said, Indonesia remained committed to responses to the fluctuations of oil prices.

Meanwhile, an official at OPEC's secretariat in Vienna said that he had not yet heard any instruction from Rilwanu Lukman on the suggested meeting.

Lukman has sent letters to 11 OPEC member countries asking their opinion about Saudi's proposal for an emergency meeting.

Besides Indonesia, Venezuela is also against that emergency meeting, while Algeria did not agree with the date. (*)