A recent survey the Dow Jones Newswires has the country’s April 2004 output at 980,000 b/d. According to the news service, citing an anonymous government official, “Indonesia, Asia's only member of OPEC, imported an average 484,000 barrels of crude oil per day in March, and exported 448,000 b/d.

“Imports rose further to 503,000 b/d in April, while exports dropped to 413,000 b/d,” added the official. If these figures are true, this represents the first time the SE Asian nation has imported more crude than it exported.

The drop in production has been attributed to “sluggish investment and a lack of exploration for new fields” by the relevant authorities. However, to the director of the Indonesian NGO, the Centre for Petroleum and Energy Economics Studies, Kurtubi, the blame lies on the back government mismanagement.

According to Kurtubi, “It’s a clear warning that there’s something wrong with the management of the country’s oil and gas resources.”

Indonesia is currently one of the few OPEC members which cannot meet its daily output quota of 1.2 million b/d.