Angola had revealed on Thursday that it would leave OPEC following a disagreement on production quotas after the oil group’s decision last month to once more, slash output come 2024.
The Mineral Resources and Petroleum minister, Diamantino Azevedo, had said that the decision had not come lightly, but the OPEC membership no longer benefitted the African country.
The presidency had also revealed that the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting headed by President Joao Lourenco in the capital city, Luanda.
Just after the meeting, Lourenco signed a decree to legalise the matter.
Azevedo had told a state broadcast channel, TPA that Angola was disconsolate with OPEC’s decision last month to further cut production next year in an effort to boost the volatile prices.
Angola is one of the biggest oil exporters in Sub-Saharan Africa, next to Nigeria.
Both countries had expressed dissatisfaction with their production quotas at the November OPEC ministerial meeting as they sought to increase their production in order to secure a much needed foreign currency for their respective countries.
The meeting had to be adjourned for several days because of dispute and variance of opinions.
Crude prices are at their lowest level in nearly six months, even with the group’s announcement in November to further slash output.
In an effort to shoot up prices, the OPEC+ alliance has executed supply reductions of over five million barrels per day (bpd) since the ending of 2022.
