Angola has announced its exit from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) amid a row over oil production quota.
The Angola Press Agency, in a statement on Thursday, said Diamantino de Azevedo, the nation’s minister of oil, told the press the decision was made during a council of ministers’ session, chaired by Angolan President João Lourenço.
“We feel that at the moment Angola does not gain anything by remaining in the organization and, in defence of its interests, it has decided to leave,” Azevedo said.
Following the development, Brent crude dropped by 1.49 per cent to $78.49 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate declined by 1.44 percent to $73.15 a barrel.
Last month, OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, reduced Angola’s oil production target for 2024 to 1.11 million barrels per day (bpd).
Before the reduction, there was an agreement in June that Angola could produce 1.28 million bpd — pending assessments by consultancies.
Earlier this month, Angola had sent a protest note to OPEC over the decision.
A report by Bloomberg indicated that delegates to the OPEC meeting blamed disagreements on Africa’s oil output for the postponement of the alliance’s last meeting on November 25-26, .
The meeting was later held on November 30, with OPEC saying Nigeria could achieve an oil production quota of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) in 2024 and Angola 1.11 million bpd.
The meeting also welcomed Alexandre Silveira de Oliveira, minister of mines and energy of Brazil, ahead of the country’s admittance to OPEC+ charter of cooperation in January 2024.
