Qatar and OPEC

Qatar and OPEC

What is the news?

Qatar will leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) next month in order to focus on gas production, as per the Gulf state’s new Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi.

It has been a member of OPEC since 1961, and the decision to pull out after all these decades comes at a turbulent time in Gulf politics, with Doha under a boycott by former neighbouring allies, including Saudi Arabia, for 18 months.

The Energy minister said “Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from OPEC effective January 2019 and this decision was communicated to OPEC this morning.”

What is OPEC?

• The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an intergovernmental organization of 15 nations, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela).
• OPEC is headquartered since 1965 in Vienna, Austria.
• The 15 countries of OPEC accounts for an estimated 44 percent of global oil production and 81.5 percent of the world’s “proven” oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices.

Who are the member nations?

• The current OPEC members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia (the de facto leader), United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.
• Indonesia is a former member of OPEC.
• Qatar will no longer be the member of OPEC from 1 january 2019.