Indonesia should downgrade its membership in OPEC to "observer" status to reduce its financial commitment to the group, a government panel has recommended, but it was unclear whether the cartel would agree to the unprecedented move.
Indonesia, which joined the oil exporting bloc in 1962, currently enjoys full member status. However, Indonesia's imports of petroleum products have exceeded its exports for several years and the country has been struggling to meet its current OPEC output quota of around 1.4 million barrels a day.
A downgrade in status could save Indonesia's cash-strapped government the US$1 million annual OPEC membership fee and a yearly contribution of US$52,000 to the OPEC Fund, according to the panel's recommendation, which was reviewed by Dow Jones Newswires on Monday.
The document acknowledged that a downgrade would curtail Indonesia's powers within OPEC, but it wasn't clear if such a move would affect the Southeast Asian nation's right to vote within the bloc.
It also was unclear whether OPEC would allow a country to attend meetings if it is no longer a full member. No member country has ever downgraded its OPEC status in the bloc's 45-year history.
Government officials contacted by Dow Jones Newswires declined to comment on the document, only saying the government was still discussing the matter.
Under pressure from industry analysts and legislators, Mines and Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro earlier this year called for an official review of Indonesia's OPEC membership.
That pressure stemmed from Indonesia's steadily diminishing crude oil output due to a lack of fresh investment and the diminished capacity of its established oil fields.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
Four former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers jailed in the territory’s largest national security case were released yesterday after more than four years in prison, the first among dozens convicted last year to regain their freedom. Former legislators Claudia Mo (毛孟靜), Jeremy Tam (譚文豪), Kwok Ka-ki (郭家麒) and Gary Fan (范國威) were part of a group of 47 public figures — including some of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy advocates — who were charged with subversion in 2021 for holding an informal primary election. The case fell under a National Security Law imposed on the territory by Beijng, and drew international condemnation and warnings
RSS