Angola leaves OPEC in blow to oil producer group

Angola said it would leave OPEC in a blow to the Saudi-led oil producer group that has sought in recent months to rally support for further output cuts to prop up oil prices.

Angola’s Oil Minister Diamantino Azevedo said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries no longer served the country’s interests.

It joins other mid-sized producers Ecuador and Qatar that have left OPEC in the past decade.

“We feel that … Angola currently gains nothing by remaining in the organisation and, in defense of its interests, decided to leave,” Azevedo was quoted as saying in a presidency statement.

International oil prices dropped by as much as 2.4 per cent on Thursday as analysts said the departure raised questions about the unity of OPEC and OPEC+, the wider group that includes Russia and other OPEC allies.

OPEC+ implemented a new round of oil output cuts in January to try to strengthen the market.