So although the Indonesian Crude Price has now reached US$111.36 per barrel but it was still at an average of US$83.45 per barrel in the past 12 monthsJakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will not change the assumption for the Indonesia Crude Price set for the 2011 budget at US$80 a barrel, energy minister Darwin Saleh said.
He said here on Monday the government would respond to the world crude price development proactively and systematically.
"We must not be worried. We act proactively and systematically," he said.
He said the government had observed crude price development in the past 12 months and the price of Indonesian crude from March 2010 to February 2011 was recorded at US$83.45 per barrel.
"So although the Indonesian Crude Price has now reached US$111.36 per barrel but it was still at an average of US$83.45 per barrel in the past 12 months," he said.
He said the government could not only see a temporary trend when making a strategic decision like the assumption for the Indonesian crude price.
As an example he referred to the situation in 2008 when the price of oil reached US$140 per barrel. He said at the time the average price was only US$115 per barrel.
Darwin said the government kept monitoring the development in Africa especially North Africa. He assured that domestic supply of crude and fuel oils was safe.
"We keep monitoring. We hold strategic discussions once in two days," he said.
Darwin said the current oil price hike was not caused by fundamental factors.
He said at present the demand reaches 88 million barrels a day while supply reaches 89 million barrels a day.
Commercial reserves at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries are also quite large or enough for 57.5 days.
"In addition Saudi Arabia has also increased supply by 1.2 million barrels a day to fill the gap left by Libya.
Political crisis in the Middle East and North Africah has made the price of crude to rise as countries are worried about possible disruptions in oil production and trade.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
