Because Indonesia is richly endowed with a variety of energy resources (oil, gas, coal and hydro and geothermal energy potential), conservation appears to be a less pressing problem than it is elsewhere. The management and planning, on a national scale, of energy production and use began only recently with the formation of the Department of Mining and Energy. The paper outlines the evolution of Indonesia's energy production, domestic demand, and oil and gas exports since the early 1970s, and it provides a forecast to 1984 and beyond. Oil, of course, is predominant (providing about 60% of foreign earnings); followed by natural gas which is also exported. Coal mining on a sizeable scale is just beginning in Southern Sumatra, while hydropotential is harnessed only to a very small extent so far, mainly in the form of multipurpose installations. At present, the bulk of the rapidly growing domestic demand is satisfied by oil, primarily in the form of kerosene which is very heavily subsidized for social reasons. Kerosene competes at the village level with firewood which is available on a non-commercial basis. The policy of the government is aimed at gradually changing this unsatisfactory state of affairs, by restructuring domestic demand so as to draw it away from the precious exportable oil. This, however, is not a simple task.