Reax to Qatar withdrawal from OPEC
47 views · Published 8 December 2018 · 1:05 · Indexed 2 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(3 Dec 2018) The tiny, energy-rich Arab nation of Qatar announced on Monday it would withdraw from OPEC, mixing its aspirations to increase production outside of the cartel's constraints with the politics of slighting the Saudi-dominated group amid the kingdom's boycott of Doha. The surprise announcement from Qatar's minister of state for energy affairs, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, again throws into question the role of the cartel after needing non-members to push through a production cut in 2016 after prices crashed below $30 a barrel. It also marks the first time a Mideast nation has left the cartel since its founding in 1960. Qatar produces only some 600,000 barrels of crude oil a day, making it OPEC's 11th biggest producer. According to some analysts, the loss of production, under 2 percent of overall OPEC supply a day, won't greatly affect the cartel's position in the market. Sayed Sadiq, Professor of political sociology at Ahram Canadian University in Cairo, said Qatar's decision "They are not competing in gas production. The main big producer of gas is Qatar...so it has nothing to do with this current crisis between the Gulf states." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/357fdd9c68ad3cacfc854b492bcd72e5
