Angola exits OPEC

• In an unexpected move, Angola has decided to part ways with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
• Angola, having joined OPEC in 2007, is not a heavyweight in terms of oil production compared to some of its counterparts, contributing approximately 1.1 million barrels per day out of the group’s total of 28 million daily contribution.

ABOUT OPEC

• The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental organization, created at the Baghdad Conference in 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
• Other Members- Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, and the United Arab Emirates.
• It aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil in the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.
• Headquarters- Vienna, Austria
• It possesses more than 80% of the world’s total crude oil (mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase) reserves.
• OPEC membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil and which shares the ideals of the organization.
• OPEC uses Brent Crude as a benchmark for quality.

ABOUT OPEC+

• OPEC+ countries include 13 OPEC member countries and Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan.