Speaking at the Investment Prospectus in Oil and Gas seminar, Baihaki said, “Indonesia [should] discontinue its membership in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as it is no longer beneficial to the country and the membership fee of US$2 million a year is too high.”

“Maintaining its membership in OPEC is no longer beneficial to Indonesia. It is time now for Indonesia to quit OPEC as the country’s oil production had dropped while its consumption continued to rise.

“Besides saving US$2 million from the membership fee, the government could also ask people to save energy [and] after quitting OPEC, people will increasingly be aware that our country has not much oil so that they will start to save energy,” he added.