The Angolan Minister of Petroleum, Diamantino Pedro Azevedo will not participate in the OPEC+ meeting on the 26th in Vienna, reflecting what the specialty portal S&P Global says are growing divisions within the organization.
The portal said that at the OPEC+ meeting five months ago the Angolan minister “left the meeting in June furious just hours after tense debates on African production capacity and (his absence) could reveal yet another disagreement in the growing divide between more and less rich within the organization”.
The next meeting is expected to reduce the production quota of Angola and other African countries that have failed to reach previously agreed production targets. At the last meeting in June, Angola’s quota had already been reduced.
Angola’s quota, says the portal, is 1.46 million barrels per day but Angola is far from reaching this having produced 1.15 million barrels per day in October and Angola agreed to have this quota reduced if it was unable to demonstrate “a significantly higher production by the November meeting.”
Other African countries should also have their quotas reduced.
In September, OPEC secretary general Haitham al-Ghais was in Luanda for talks whose details are unknown
S&P Global also says that “member countries say the (quota) cuts could reduce vital investment in their oil and gas sectors at a time when they are struggling to increase production.”
An unidentified source told the portal that the Angolan minister was not “very satisfied at the last meeting” but added that “Angola continues to firmly support OPEC”.
“There are some issues and they need to have a family conversation about these issues,” said this source cited by the portal.
The price of Brent oil was at 81.57 dollars per barrel on Wednesday, above the 75 dollars that served as a reference for the Government to prepare the General State Budget for 2023.