Angola has announced it will leave OPEC due to a disagreement over production quotas following the oil cartel's decision last month to cut output further next year.
The Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum, Diamantino Azevedo, stated that the decision had not been taken lightly, but that OPEC membership no longer served the interests of the African country.
"Angola has decided to leave. We believe that the time has come for our country to focus more on our objectives," Azevedo told public television. TPA .
He said Luanda was unhappy with the group's decision last month to cut production further next year in a bid to sustain price volatility.
"If we stayed in OPEC... Angola would be forced to cut production and that goes against our policy of avoiding decline and respecting contracts," said Azevedo.
Angola is one of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest oil exporters, alongside Nigeria.
Both countries expressed dissatisfaction with their production quotas at the OPEC ministerial meeting in November, as they seek to increase output to secure vital foreign currency.
The meeting had to be postponed for several days due to disagreements. Prices are close to their lowest level in almost six months, despite the cartel's announcement in November that it would further reduce production.
They have surged in recent days as cargo carriers and oil companies said they would avoid using the Red Sea and Suez Canal due to drone and missile attacks by Houthi rebels. But they are still below $80 a barrel.
Nevertheless, crude oil prices remain above the average of the last five years.
To support prices, the OPEC+ alliance has implemented supply cuts of over five million barrels per day (b/d) since the end of 2022.
Founded in 1960, the 13-member OPEC cartel joined forces in 2016 with 10 other producers to form OPEC+ to gain greater influence.
