Qatar to Withdraw from OPEC Early 2019

  • Doha, Qatar
  • 4 December 2018
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Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs announced his Country's decision to withdraw from OPEC as of January 2019, pointing out that Qatar's Oil production is not huge and therefore the Oil market will not be affected by Qatar's decision to quit the Organization. He added that Doha would focus instead on its gas potential, as it is not practical “to put efforts and resources and time into an Organization that we are a very small player in.”
He stated, “The decision is definitely not political, but it is linked to the Country's long-term strategy and plans to develop its gas sector and increase LNG production to 110 million tons by 2024.” He added, “I assure you that this decision was purely based on what is appropriate for Qatar on the long term, it is a strategic decision.”
Qatar's Oil production does not exceed 600,000 barrels per day, in comparison to Saudi Arabia's production which escalates to 11 million barrels per day. In addition, Qatar ranks 17th among the World's largest Crude Oil producers, according to the source “WorldData.info”, and 11th in OPEC.
CIA’s World Factbook estimated Qatar to possess only 2 percent of the World's Oil Reserves.

Source: (Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)

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