Angola decides to leave OPEC: Departure Sparks Concerns Over Unity and Oil Price Stability
Angola’s announcement on Thursday of its intention to leave OPEC dealt a blow to the coalition of oil producers led by Saudi Arabia, which has been trying to rally support for further output cuts, meant to raise the oil prices. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is no longer in line with the interests of Angola, according to Diamantino Azevedo, the country’s minister of oil. This action comes after two other mid-sized producers have left OPEC in the last ten years: Ecuador and Qatar.
In a press release, Azevedo said, “We feel that Angola currently gains nothing by remaining in the organization and, in defense of its interests, decided to leave.” Oil prices fell by around 2% after this news, raising doubts about OPEC’s unity among analysts.
Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS, stated, “Prices fell on concern of the unity of OPEC+ as a group, but there is no indication that more heavyweights within the alliance intend to follow the path of Angola.” Angola, which joined OPEC in 2007, produces 1.1 million barrels of oil per day, or a small portion of the 28 million barrels per day produced by the group as a whole.
Requests for OPEC’s comments on Angola’s decision have not yet received a response. Speaking anonymously, group delegates conveyed their shock at Angola’s exit. Since 2019, the nation has been unable to fulfill its OPEC quota as it struggles to stop the output decrease that began in 2008 when it peaked at 2 million barrels per day.
Angola plans to keep up its current output levels through 2024, a top government official said in October.
Azevedo’s office objected last month to OPEC’s decision to lower its production allotment for 2024, which may have limited Angola’s capacity to raise output. Meetings of the larger OPEC+ oil production group had been delayed in the past due to disputes over African output limits.
