ORGANIZATION OF THE PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES (OPEC)
Dec. 4, 2018
Qatar has announced its decision to leave OPEC w.e.f. January 2019 in order to focus on gas production.
About:
OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization of 15 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.
Origin: OPEC was founded in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq by five countries namely Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Present member countries: 15 (6 in the Middle East (Western Asia), 7 in Africa, and 2 in South America).
HQ: Vienna, Austria.
Qatar Quitting OPEC:
Qatar has been a member of OPEC since 1961.
Qatar has stated that it wants to focus more on gas production, which is its core strength, instead of oil.
In September, Qatar announced its plans to boost gas production to 110 million tonnes a year by 2024.
Its oil production is around 6,00,000 barrels a day, making it the world’s 17th largest producer of crude. It also only holds around 2% of the world’s global oil reserves.
Some analysts saw Qatar’s withdrawal as a “political decision to oppose Saudi Arabia”, which alongside the U.S. and Russia is the biggest producer in OPEC. Qatar is under a boycott by former neighbouring allies, including Saudi Arabia for 18 months.
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