OPEC stresses OPEC+ unity, after Angola exit

OPEC said on Wednesday that cooperation and dialogue within the wider OPEC+ oil producer’s alliance will continue, after OPEC member Angola last month announced it would leave the group.

Continued cooperation within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia will benefit “all producers, consumers, and investors, as well as the global economy at large,” OPEC said in a statement.

Angola said on Dec. 21 that it will leave OPEC from this month, a move that prompted a drop in oil prices and that some analysts said raised questions about the unity of both OPEC and the wider OPEC+ alliance.

The OPEC statement made no mention of Angola but said that OPEC members were united.

“OPEC member-countries re-affirm their steadfast commitment to the shared objectives of unity and cohesion both within the organization, and with the non-OPEC producing countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC),” it said, using OPEC+’s formal name the Declaration of Cooperation.

OPEC+ is making a further round of voluntary oil output cuts totaling about 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of 2024, adding to earlier reductions announced in various steps since late 2022, to support the market.