DOHA – The western Asian country of Qatar is withdrawing from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) next month, January 2019, sources reveal.
“Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership form OPEC effective January 2019,” Saad Al Kaabi, the country’s Energy minister told journalists in Doha recently.
The minister said the decision was not easy as Qatar has been in OPEC for 57 years, but that the country’s impact on OPEC production decisions was insignificant.
Qatar is a small rich Arab economy backed by the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves.
With the country’s withdrawal, it means the organization, founded in 1960, will now be having a total of 14 member countries.
