Indonesia Can Return to OPEC But Can't Escape Aging Oil Fields
- Suspended membership after becoming net importer of crude
- New oil fields seen reversing output drop for only two years
A worker collects of crude oil to be processed into fuel in Wonocolo village. Southeast Asia’s largest economy is returning to OPEC as its government warns the collapse in crude prices has worsened an “increasingly unappealing” energy investment climate and dependence on foreign oil grows.
Photographer: Arief Priyono/LightRocket via Getty ImagesFor the first time in seven years, OPEC’s newest member will increase crude production. It will likely be just a blip.
The start of Indonesia’s Banyu Urip oil field in Java will be the single biggest addition to global supply this year, helping the returning member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries inch up output by about 1 percent this year and 5 percent the next to approximately 830,000 barrels a day. The decline will resume from 2017, according to BMI Research.