Indonesia calls for more strict adherence to quotas

Indonesia will ask the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, to maintain its current output despite softer crude prices, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Thursday.

OPEC's basket crude price is currently hovering between US$25-$26 a barrel, which is still between OPEC's price band of between $22-$28 per barrel, he told reporters.

"Indonesia will propose OPEC to maintain output in a meeting later this month," he said. "But we will urge OPEC to make sure its members are more disciplined (in adhering to their respective quotas)."

OPEC will meet Sept. 24 at its headquarters in Vienna.

Indonesia is OPEC's only Southeast Asian member.(*)