RI may ask OPEC to cut output

Indonesia may ask the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) to cut oil daily production by 500,000 barrels per day at the cartel?s ministerial meeting on Nov. 14 to help boost sagging prices, president of the state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina Baihaki Hakim said Monday.

Baihaki said that OPEC had previously agreed that if crude oil index stayed below US$22 per barrel for 10 consecutive days, the grouping could consider to cut output.

The oil price had been hovering at $18.54 per barrel lately.

Indonesia, the only OPEC member in the region, relies heavily on oil revenue to finance its cash-strapped budget.(Godang)