Angola leaves OPEC in blow to oil producer group

Angola said it would leave OPEC in a blow to the Saudi-led oil producer group that has sought in recent months to rally support for further output cuts to prop up oil prices.

Angola's Oil Minister Diamantino Azevedo said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries no longer served the country's interests. It joins other mid-sized producers Ecuador and Qatar that have left OPEC in the last decade.

"We feel that ... Angola currently gains nothing by remaining in the organisation and, in defense of its interests, decided to leave," Azevedo was quoted as saying in a presidency statement.

International oil prices dropped by as much as 2.4% on Thursday as analysts said the departure raised questions about the unity of OPEC and OPEC+, the wider group that includes Russia and other OPEC allies. OPEC+ implements a new round of oil-output cuts from January to try to strengthen the market.

"Prices fell on concern of the unity of OPEC+ as a group, but there is no indication that more heavyweights within the alliance intend to follow the path of Angola," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

Angola's announced departure follows a protest from Angola about OPEC+'s decision to cut its output quota for 2024. The dispute helped to delay OPEC+'s last policy meeting in November and its agreement on new output curbs.

"This shows that there is no consensus within OPEC itself and this was for some time now," Ali Al-Riyami, former marketing director general at Oman's energy ministry, said.

"There will be consequences no doubt about it, but I don't think others (countries) will follow."

Nigeria is another African OPEC member that has been trying to boost output and has been struggling to meet its quota. At the November meeting, it received a higher OPEC+ target for 2024, although lower than it had sought, restricting its ability to increase production should it be able to do so.