OPEC Pledges More Cooperation After Angola’s Exit

OPEC says cooperation and dialogue within the wider OPEC+ producer alliance will continue, after Angola last month said it would quit, and that it plans a Feb. 1 meeting to review implementation of its latest oil output cut.

Continued cooperation within the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia will benefit “all producers, consumers and investors, as well as the global economy at large,” OPEC said in a statement.

Angola said on Dec. 21 that it will leave OPEC from this month, a decision that prompted a drop in oil prices and raised questions about the unity of both OPEC and the wider OPEC+ alliance.

The OPEC statement made no mention of Angola but said OPEC members were united.

“OPEC member-countries re-affirm their steadfast commitment to the shared objectives of unity and cohesion both within the organization, and with the non-OPEC producing countries participating in the DoC,” it said, using OPEC+’s formal name the Declaration of Cooperation.

Oil rose about 3% on Wednesday with Brent crude exceeding $78 a barrel after supply disruption in Libya’s top oilfield. Still, Brent is down from near $98 in September, in part because of doubts about OPEC+’s cohesion.

OPEC+ is making a further round of voluntary oil output cuts totalling about 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of 2024, adding to earlier reductions announced in various steps since late 2022, to support the market.

Reuters/Hauwa Abu