Indonesian oil reserves will run out in 20 years, says research group

NUSA DUA (Indonesia) June 4 - Indonesia's oil reserves will be exhausted in 20 years if the current production level of 500 million barrels a year is maintained, a research group said Tuesday.
Pelangi, an Indonesian research group focusing on energy and environment issues, said the use of liquid fossil fuels in the energy mix in Indonesia remains significant although it has decreased over the past 20 years.
Fossil fuels are used for half the fuel needs of industry, about 70 percent in households and 99.9 percent for transport, said the group in a statement.
It predicted that Indonesia would be a net oil importer in the next 10 years.
``This spells disaster,'' said Moekti Soejachmoen, Pelangi deputy director.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a UN meeting on Bali island to prepare for the World Summit on Sustainable Development opening in Johannesburg on August 26.
Thousands of officials and activists have been meeting since May 23 to hammer out a plan of action to be adopted in the Johannesburg Summit.
Indonesia could have saved 1.2 billion dollars in 2000 had it used energy as efficiently as other developing countries, Soejachmoen said.
He urged Indonesia to develop renewable energy sources.
``Indonesia can no longer rely on non-renewable sources of income such as oil, but instead it should develop its renewable source such as human capacity,'' he said.
This year's government budget assumes crude oil production of 1.32 million barrels a day, or 482 million barrels a year. The US embassy in a report estimated reserves at 9.6 billion barrels.
Energy is one of the contentious issues at the Bali meeting.
The US and several other developed states oppose a proposal by the European Union and developing nations that 15 percent of energy consumption must come from renewable sources in 2010. - AFP