Indonesia supports OPEC leaving quotas unchanged

Indonesia will support the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) if it decides at its Dec. 10 meeting to leave its output quota unchanged, The Jakarta Post reported on its website on Monday citing a government official as saying.

Director General of Oil and Gas Iin Arifin Takhyan said Monday that the group needed to reduce over-production of oil.

OPEC is producing as much as 1.5 million barrels a day more than its official target of 27 million barrels a day.

"We think instead of cutting quotas, OPEC should discipline members to produce oil according to their respective quotas," Iin told reporters in Jakarta.

OPEC's second-smallest member, wants benchmark Indonesian crude prices at $30 a barrel, from currently about $33 a barrel, Iin said.

President of the oil-producer group, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, said last Thursday that OPEC may leave its quotas unchanged when they meet at the end of this week.

OPEC members are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Nigeria, Libya, Indonesia, Algeria and Qatar. (*)