Indonesia to pull out of OPEC

Indonesia says it is pulling out of OPEC.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said today it no longer makes sense for his country to be a member of the 13-nation Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

He says Indonesia is “pulling out of OPEC” after its membership expires in 2008, because it consumes more oil than it exports.

Indonesia is south-east Asia’s only member of the grouping.

It has had to import oil however because of decades of declining investment in exploration and extraction due to corruption and a weak legal system, which make oil companies wary of doing business in the country.