Luanda (AFP) – Angola has decided to withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) over disagreements over production quotas, saying it is time to “focus more” on its own goals, Angolan’s natural resources minister announced on Thursday.
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“So far we have not had any influence on the quotas, but if we remain in OPEC, we will suffer the consequences of the decision to respect them,” Diamantino de Azevedo explained to TPA public television. He added that Angola would then have to reduce its production.
“It is the decision of a sovereign state. We have always done our duty, but Angola sees it appropriate to leave. We believe that the time has come for our country to focus more on its goals,” he justified, adding that the decision was not “taken into consideration.”
Angola was very active, he explained, “but our role within the organization no longer seemed relevant to us.” “The current results do not serve our interests.”
Despite the new cuts announced in November, crude oil prices remain stuck at their lowest level since June (between $70 and $80 per barrel), although they remain above the average of the past five years.
OPEC and its 10 OPEC+ allies appear to have lost influence, amid disagreements, US competition and turmoil over the climate emergency.
At the end of November, Angola and Nigeria, the two heavy oil countries on the African continent, expressed their dissatisfaction with their quotas during the last ministerial meeting of the cartel, which was in fact postponed due to disagreements.
OPEC was founded in 1960, and includes 13 members led by Riyadh. In 2016, it formed an alliance with 10 other countries, including Russia, under the name OPEC+, with the aim of limiting supply and supporting prices in the face of challenges posed by American competition.
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