ALBAWABA – Angola is leaving OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, local news agency ANGOP reported on Thursday, citing Mineral Resources Minister Diamantino Azevedo.
Multiple media outlets and agencies reported the news, including Bloomberg Markets, Reuters and Sky News.
Nigeria and Angola were two of several countries given lower targets at the last OPEC+ meeting in June after years of failing to meet the previous ones, Reuters reported.
As of October, Angola was pumping less than its quota for 2024, according to assessments by independent sources cited by OPEC, according to Reuters.
OPEC and its allies including Russia, known as OPEC+ a few weeks ago announced it will be introducing further cuts in 2024 to bolster oil prices.
A general view of the refinery at the state oil company, Sonangol, in Luanda, on June 7, 2022. Oil-rich Angola is leaving OPEC, the oil minister announced on Thursday (Photo by AFP)
Speculations as to why Angola is leaving OPEC remain unconfirmed, Angola’s departure will shrink the organization’s membership to 12 nations, with Saudi Arabia presiding.
Azevedo spoke after a cabinet meeting, the Jornal de Angola reported on its website, announcing Angola is leaving OPEC.
However, it is expected that OPEC’s move to vote on additional cuts for the first quarter of 2024 may have been at the centre of the dispute that drove Angola out of the group.
Angola, on November 30, declared it will not abide with the organization’s planned cuts.
The country has been an OPEC member for more than 16 years, Bloomberg reported, but is now rejecting said cuts in light of its dwindling output.
Other countries had previously quit the organization, such as Qatar, Indonesia and most recently, Ecuador, for various reasons.
