JAKARTA, Indonesia _ Indonesia's energy ministry says the country will rejoin the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries this year to forge a closer relationship with oil suppliers.
I Gusti Nyoman Wiratmadja Pudja, director-general of oil and gas at the ministry, said Friday that Indonesia will reactivate its membership in November after all OPEC members approved its application to rejoin the oil cartel at a meeting last week.
Indonesia left the group in 2008 after nearly five decades of being the only Asian member amid declining oil reserves and investment. The country joined OPEC two years after it was founded in 1960.
Indonesia hopes membership will strengthen its ability to secure oil supplies. Indonesia is still a significant oil and gas producer but must also import oil to meet its needs.