- Qatar has announced to leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from January 2019 and focus more on the production of natural gas.
- Qatar’s new energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi announced the decision on December 3.
- As per Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar has plans to increase its annual exports of liquified natural gas, LPG from 77 million tons of gas per year to 110 million tons.
- Al-Kaabi said, Qatar also wants to raise its oil production from 4.8 million barrels of oil equivalent a day to 6.5 million barrels.
About OPEC
- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. They were to become the Founder Members of the Organization.
- These countries were later joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), Angola (2007), Equatorial Guinea (2017) and Congo (2018).
- The OPEC Secretariat is the executive organ of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Located in Vienna, it also functions as the Headquarters of the Organization, in accordance with the provisions of the OPEC Statute.
