Angola to quit OPEC, reducing membership to 12 countries

Angola has said it is leaving the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), after exits from Ecuador in 2020 and Qatar in 2019.

Angola, which joined OPEC in 2007, produces about 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), compared with 28 million bpd for the whole group.

OPEC was founded in 1960 by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela, Iran and Iraq. Angola joined the group in 2007.

Since 2017, OPEC has worked with Russia and other non-members as part of the OPEC+ group to manage the market, in whose agreements Angola participated.

Angola's departure from OPEC will leave it with 12 members and crude oil production of about 27 million bpd, some 27 per cent of the 102 million bpd world oil market.

In recent years, Angola has been unable to meet its OPEC+ output quota because of declining investment.

Angola would join other nations with relatively small oil output that have left in recent years.

Qatar in 2019 quit OPEC to focus on gas, while Ecuador left in 2020 and Indonesia suspended its membership in 2016.

Some small producers have also joined OPEC in recent years. Equatorial Guinea became a full member in 2017 and Gabon re-joined in 2016. Congo became a full member in 2018.