REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The Indonesian Crude Price Index has dipped to 99.51 USD per barrel in August as recorded by the Indonesia Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
According to the ministry's press release received here on Friday, the crude price index is down 5.12 USD from 104.63 USD per barrel recorded in July 2014.
The drop in crude price index was chiefly attributed to an increase in crude oil production while the demand stayed low. The Indonesian Crude Price Index during the January-August period averaged at 105.56 USD per barrel, which is still in line with the 2014 revised state budget's (APBN's) projected value of 105 USD per barrel. Meanwhile, Sumatra Light Crude (SLC) prices in August 2014 were down by 5.06 USD from 105.06 USD per barrel in July 2014 to reach 100 USD per barrel.
As per press release, several factors lead to the decrease in price such as an increase in output of crude oil refineries, which resulted in an increase in inventory of several types of products. In July, the crude oil production of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose 167 thousand barrels per day as compared to the previous month.
US crude oil production in July is reported to have reached 8.5 million barrels per day, which has been the highest recorded value since April 1987.
Meanwhile, global crude oil production in July 2014 also rose to 93.04 million barrels per day or an increase of 230 thousand barrels per day as compared to the previous month.
Moreover, the projected demand for crude oil in 2014 is over 20 thousand barrels per day, which is lower than the previous month.
"The demand growth in 2014 is projected to be 1.1 million barrels per day, or 0.03 million barrels less per day than the estimated amount in the previous month," as stated in the press release.