Energy's Role in United States and Indonesian Relations

Indonesian oil comprises about 5 percent of total petroleum imports to the United States, and the producer-consumer relationship between Indonesia and the United States was examined to analyze the potential for this source of petroleum. Continued exports of oil and gas are critical to the Indonesian economy. Petroleum exports account for 70 percent of Indonesia's overall foreign exchange earnings and 50 percent of its budget revenues. The United States imports nearly 44 percent of Indonesia's exported petroleum and Japan imports 48 percent. Indonesia is the world's fifth most populous country and is among the poorest of the developing nations. The United States has provided substantial amounts of military and economic assistance. Indonesia's strategic and political importance to the United States, coupled with Indonesia's need to export its oil, seem to form a mutuality of interests that would ensure a continued, though incremental, supply of oil to the United States.