LUANDA, ANGOLA: Mineral Resources and Petroleum minister of Angola Diamantino Azevedo said on Thursday that his country would leave OPEC over the recent differences on production quotas in context of the oil cartel’s decision last month to further slash output next year.
The minister further lamented about the decision adding that OPEC membership no longer served interest of the African country.
“We feel that after the decision Angola would get nothing by remaining in the organization and would be better to leave,” the presidential office quoting Azevedo as saying in a statement adding that the step of quitting OPEC was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Joao Lourenco in the capital, Luanda.
Meanwhile, the minister Diamantino Azevedo told the state broadcaster TPA that Angola was not happy with the decision of the OPEC last month to further slash production next year in an effort to control unstable prices.
“If we remained in OPEC… Angola would be forced to take production down which would go against the country’s policy of avoiding decline and respecting contracts.”, he said
It is worth mentioning here that Angola is one of the largest oil exporters in Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside Nigeria.
Both the countries were unhappy over the production quotas at the November OPEC ministerial meeting as they requested to enhance production to secure valuable foreign currency. The meeting suffered interruption and postponement for several days because of disagreements.
Crude Oil Production, Price and OPEC Role
Besides, the recent developments, price of the Crude oil are almost at the lowest level in nearly six months despite the announcement made in November by OPEC to further cut output.
Recently, a slight raise was observed after cargo shippers and oil firms said they would avoid using the Red Sea and Suez Canal due to drone and missile attacks by Huthi rebels, however the price still hovering below $80 per barrel. However, the price remained above the average of the past five years.
In an effort to prop up prices, the OPEC and its partners have implemented supply cuts of over five million barrels per day (bpd) since the end of 2022.
OPEC was founded in 1960, followed by addition of 13-member cartel in 2016 aligned with 10 other producers to form OPEC+ to gain more clout.
