Luanda (AFP) – Angola has decided to withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) due to disagreements over production quotas, saying it is time to focus “more strongly” on its own goals, the natural resources minister announced on Thursday known .
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“So far we have had no influence on the quotas, but if we remained in OPEC we would suffer the consequences of the decision to comply with them,” Diamantino de Azevedo told public television TPA. Angola would then be “forced to reduce its production,” he added.
“It is the decision of a sovereign country. We have always fulfilled our duty, but Angola considers it appropriate to leave the country. We believe it is time for our country to focus more on its goals,” he said, explaining the decision, adding that it was not “taken lightly.”
Angola has been very active, “but our role within the organization no longer seems relevant to us,” he explained. “The current results do not serve our interests.”
Despite the new cuts announced in November, crude oil prices remain at their lowest level since June (between $70 and $80 per barrel), although they remain above the average over the past five years.
OPEC and its ten OPEC+ allies appear to have lost their influence due to disagreements, American competition and unrest over the climate emergency.
At the end of November, Angola and Nigeria, the African continent's two oil heavyweights, showed their dissatisfaction with their quotas at the cartel's last ministerial meeting, which was even postponed due to disagreements.
OPEC, founded in 1960 with 13 members led by Riyadh, formed an alliance called OPEC+ with 10 other countries, including Russia, in 2016 with the aim of limiting supplies and supporting prices in the face of challenges from American competition.
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