Indonesia will appoint a senior energy ministry official as its representative to OPEC, as Southeast Asia’s top crude producer and Asia’s top gasoline importer prepares to rejoin the international organization in December after a seven-year break.
The country hopes rejoining OPEC will provide it with a better footing to make energy deals and play a part in energy diplomacy, but some say it may also complicate any decision by the grouping on whether to change its output target.
“My job will be to attend the board of governors meeting twice a year,” Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja, Indonesia’s soon-to-be appointed OPEC governor, told Reuters by text message on Nov. 12, adding that he will be based in Jakarta.
According to Indonesian domestic news portal Petromindo.com, Prawiraatmadja will be officially inaugurated into the post in December.
Prawiraatmadja currently serves as a special staff to Indonesia’s Energy Minister Sudirman Said, and previously served as deputy chairman of the country’s upstream oil and gas regulator.
Speaking at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10, Said called for transparency in discussions and proposed the need to seek a new global balance in the oil and gas market amid depressed oil prices.
“The market will be flooded with supply, new technology will emerge for new energy and all countries are working to find solutions for their energy security,” Said said, as quoted in a written statement sent by to Reuters by one of his staff on Nov. 11.
“Rather than mutually causing losses for each other, it is better to have dialogue and seek sustainable ways to cooperate,” he said in a panel discussion with OPEC secretary general Abdalla Salem El Badri and UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei.
The comments add to debate over whether the cartel should cut production target to support world oil prices.
Oil ministers of OPEC nations are expected to hold talks on Dec. 3, a day before the group’s formally scheduled meeting in Vienna.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided in November last year to focus on maintaining market share instead of supporting oil prices. It is widely expected to continue with that policy.
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