The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has asked Indonesia to retain its membership amid rumors that the government mulls quitting the cartel due to a sharp drop in oil production, an Indonesian official said Wednesday.

Bambang Dwiyanto, a close aide to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, said OPEC has sent a letter to the Indonesian government asking the country to retain its membership.

The letter, signed by OPEC President Ahmad Fahad Al-Ahmad, said "all OPEC members support Indonesia to continue being OPEC member, " Bambang told reporters here.

The letter also said there is no reason for Indonesia to quit the 11-member cartel, he added.

On the same occasion, Indonesian representative to OPEC Maizar Rahman said rumors saying that Indonesia plans to quit OPEC were baseless.

Indonesia's current average oil production stood at 1.07 million barrels per day or below the targeted 1.13 million in the 2005 state budget.

The government has targeted to boost oil output to 1.3 million bpd by 2008.

OPEC, whose combined output reaches some 30 million barrels per day, consists of Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

Source: Xinhua