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ICP rises to $68.31 per barrel due to geopolitical issues

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry cited that political tensions in Libya and the US embargo on Venezuela’s crude exports could hamper oil supplies.

Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, May 8, 2019

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ICP rises to $68.31 per barrel due to geopolitical issues An illustration of an oil refinery. (Shutterstock/File)

T

he Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) rose 7.4 percent to US$68.31 a barrel in April from the previous month due to geopolitical issues, including the United States’ tightening sanctions against Iran, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

The ICP, used as a benchmark to calculate nontax income in the state budget, was 3.73 percent higher in April than the previous month.

The ministry also cited that increasing political tensions in Libya and the US embargo on Venezuela’s crude exports could hamper oil supplies.

“The other factor is the shrinking of global crude oil supplies,” said the ministry in a press statement on Tuesday, adding that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries recorded that supplies declined 30.02 million barrels of oil per day [bopd] in April, the lowest since February 2015.

The ICP increase, according to the ministry, was also triggered by the termination of 700,000 bopd from Russia’s Druzhba pipeline to a number of European countries as well as maintenance at several oil fields in Ghana, Azerbaijan and Libya.

The ministry also recorded a fuel consumption hike in Asia, especially in China because of the introduction of economic stimulus measures and in India because of increasing fuel demand from its petrochemical industry as well as the decline of Kazakhstan's crude production.

The ministry also cited a US Energy Information Administration report, saying the US' gasoline supply in April dropped to 225.8 million, 11.8 million barrels lower compared to the previous month. (bbn)  

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