Angola, Africa’s second-biggest crude producer, has announced it is leaving the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
According to Angola’s local news agency Angop, the announcement was made this Thursday by Diamantino de Azevedo, the country’s mineral resources, oil and gas minister.
The decision was taken during the 10th session of the council of ministers under Angolan President Joao Lourenco.
Angola and Nigeria were among several countries given lower targets at the last OPEC+ meeting in June after years of failing to meet the previous ones.
Last month, the OPEC+ oil producer group lowered Angola’s oil output target to 1.11 million barrels per day (bpd).
The office of Angola’s oil minister in response seen by Bloomberg said it sent a note of protest to OPEC over the decision.
Estevao Pedro, Angola’s OPEC Governor was quoted by Bloomberg as saying at the time that the country was unhappy with its 2024 target and did not plan to stick to it.
The spat involving African members dredges up a disagreement from June, when Angola, Congo and Nigeria were pushed by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman to accept reduced output targets for 2024 that reflected their diminished capabilities. Exporters on the continent have struggled in recent years with under-investment, operational disruptions and ageing oil fields.
Angola’s dispute with OPEC may be “difficult to bridge” as the country pushes back against reduced output quota, RBC Capital Markets LLC’s head of commodity strategy Helima Croft said in a note Thursday.
Oil production in Angola has made a slight recovery this year but has consistently fallen short of its target for next year. At 1.17 million barrels a day in October, it was 110,000 barrels a day under its 2024 quota, according to data from OPEC’s Vienna-based secretariat.
Nigeria pumped 1.416 million barrels a day last month, or 36,000 barrels a day above its target for 2024, the data showed.
