The Governor of Angola in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said this Thursday that Luanda has rejected the quota assigned by the cartel, which predicted cuts, and will maintain the target of 1,180 thousand barrels per day for 2024.
In a conversation with Lusa following the 36th ministerial meeting of this organization of 23 countries, which determined production quotas for its members from January 1, 2024, Estevan Pedro said that “Angola does not agree” with this decision.
“We have already presented our data taking into account the country’s capabilities, but so far the decision (OPEC+) has gone against the amount we predicted,” he emphasized.
OPEC+ presented a target of 1,110 thousand barrels per day, while Angola wants to produce an additional 70 thousand barrels.
According to the official, during the meeting Angola confirmed its position, but contrary to the usual unanimity, OPEC made a decision on the quota, with which Angola does not agree.
“We do not see ourselves in those 1,110 thousand barrels per day that are reflected in the document. [comunicado da OPE] and we are continuing our proposal to produce 1,180 thousand barrels per day. This is the volume we will strive to produce during 2024,” he specified.
Estevan Pedro stressed that Angola presented the quota in accordance with what it can and intends to produce, indicating that a letter expressing this position has been formalized.
“The meeting lacked the generally accepted criterion of unanimity,” he complained, believing that Angola’s position should be “accepted”, respecting the principle of sovereignty of member countries.
Regarding Angola’s continued membership in OPEC, he says any future decision will depend on the response to this letter.
“We will wait for the reaction, first we will get feedback from OPEC, everything that should happen “a posteriori” is “a posteriori”,” he said in his statements to Luse.
The official stressed that Angola has always worked within OPEC to stabilize the market, “which benefits producers and consumers,” so the organization must accept what the Portuguese-speaking country is asking for.
The remaining members agreed to the cuts, Estevan Pedro said, explaining that countries have different problems.
“Angola’s intention is to produce according to its capacity, and the quota allocated by OPEC is far below Angola’s capacity,” he added, stressing that Angola had previously requested a higher quota and “tried to make it more flexible.” presenting a new goal. below.
Members of the cartel that represents most of the world’s oil production clashed last week over production plans in African countries including Angola and Nigeria.
Saudi Arabia and its allies wanted to impose lower quotas on African oil production in an attempt to raise prices for next year, but they were opposed by those countries, namely Angola, which intends to increase oil production and revenues.