INDONESIAN OIL
In the past decade, oil production in Indonesia has declined by nearly 50%. Rising local demand and bureaucratic red tape faced by oil companies have turned this once exporting nation into a net importer of oil. Indonesia's current production is only at about 850,000 barrels per day, a far cry from the 1.5 million barrels it was producing daily in the 1990s. Production has fallen off so much the OPEC agreed to suspend Indonesia's, (the sole Asian OPEC member), 46 year long membership on September 10, 2008. The end of Indonesia's membership in OPEC was a long time coming because it has not been able to meet production standards and as a net importer of oil, rather than an exporter, it no longer made sense to stay on. Large new taxes, natural barriers to oil reserves, and difficult oil laws have discouraged investors from exploration and production. Mr. Anthony Nunan of the Mitsubishi Corporation in Tokyo explained that, "If Indonesia was willing to explore and drill new areas offshore, let international companies in, and make fiscal terms better, there would be an improvement in the situation. However, it will not be a large increase, it will be a marginal increase."
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