Indonesia's crude oil reserve has been in a steady decline during the past two decades, faster than that in other ASEAN member countries, which is unable to replenish to meet growing demand, the Jakarta globe reported Monday.

Indonesia's proven oil reserves have fallen by 1.9 billion barrels since 1991, faster than the rate in any other Asian countries, according to British oil giant BP's annual report on oil and gas.

The report,"Statistical Review of World Energy 2012,"was released last week.

Indonesia, a former OPEC member, had 4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves last year, down from 5.9 billion barrels in 1991. Reserves India dropped by 800 million barrels and 400 million barrels in the same period, respectively, though oil consumption in both countries has historically been higher than in Indonesia.

In last year's BP report, Indonesia's reserves for 2010 were 4.2 billion barrels, down from 5.4 billion barrels in 1990.

Elisabeth Proust, chairwoman of the Indonesian Petroleum Association, called for more incentives in the exploration stage as oil companies must venture out to new frontiers where potential fields are offshore and often deeper and riskier.

Mexico had the fastest depletion rate in the world, according to the BP report. The country's reserves plunged to 11.4 billion barrels last year from 50.9 billion barrels in 1991. In the same period, Venezuela's reserves surged to 296.5 billion barrels from 62.6 billion barrels, overtaking Saudi Arabia with the world's biggest stockpile.

Malaysia managed to raise its proven oil reserves to 5.9 billion barrels in 2011 from 3.7 billion barrels in 1991, reflecting a 60 percent increase in reserves worldwide.

Indonesia's oil consumption last year stood at 1.43 million barrels per day, while its refineries have the combined capacity of 1.141 million barrels per day, indicating the need to import to cover the shortfall.

Indonesia has been raising its stash of natural gas, with proven reserves up 67 percent to 3 trillion cubic meters in the 20 years to 2011. That rate was higher than the world's 59 percent increase to 208.4 trillion cubic meters.