Angola to leave OPEC after quota dispute

The news: Angola has announced it will leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, weeks after a disagreement over its production quotas, Reuters reported.

The numbers: The African nation, which joined OPEC in 2007, produces about 1.1 million of the 28 million barrels of oil per day output of the whole group. Its departure will leave OPEC with 12 members and crude oil production of about 27 million bpd, or roughly 27% of the world oil market.

The context: Angola's exit follows a protest from the country about OPEC+'s decision to cut its output quota for 2024, which delayed the wider group’s last policy meeting in November where new output curbs were agreed amid forecasts of surplus supply in the market. Angola's Oil Minister Diamantino Azevedo said the OPEC no longer served the country's interests and the African nation joins other mid-sized producers Ecuador and Qatar that have left the group in the last decade. The announcement resulted in a drop in international oil prices, with analysts saying the departure raised questions about the unity of OPEC and the broader OPEC+ that includes Russia and other allies.