Indonesia and OPEC: Why does Indonesia maintain its distance?

Abstract

Indonesia withdrew its membership in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2008. However, in 2015 Indonesia reactivated its membership in OPEC followed by the second withdrawal in 2016. This paper aims to analyze the underlying factors of Indonesia's decision towards OPEC. This study used a process-Tracing approach to address the research problem. Indeed, the analysis was based on the geopolitical approach to the political economy of natural resources. This study found that the underlying factor of Indonesia's decision to reactivate and to withdraw its membership in OPEC was for saving its energy security and also for maintaining the stability of its domestic economy.