JAKARTA - Indonesia government will implement its strategic petroleum reserve program starting this year by purchasing 45 million barrels of crude oil from the world market in this year, said Energy Minister Sudirman Said. With the new supplies, Indonesia will be able to boost the volume of its oil reserves to make it last 30 days from the current 22 days. Sudirman has met with delegates from Middle East countries during the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit.
He claimed that delegates from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iran have expressed interest to sell their oil to Indonesia. I Gusti Nyoman Wiratmadja, director general of oil and gas at the Ministry of Energy, is targeting the import to be obtained gradually in the next five years. The procurement of this strategic reserve requires a funding of US$17 billion (Rp221.85 trillion). Wiratmadja is targeting for the plan to materialize by early 2017. (*)