SOCAR ex-head: Qatar's withdrawal from OPEC may lead to market downtrend
By Trend
Qatar’s withdrawal from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may aggravate the downtrend in the oil market, Sabit Baghirov, ex-head of Azerbaijan's State Oil Company (SOCAR), well-known economist, told Trend on Dec. 3 commenting on the news of Qatar’s withdrawal in 2019.
"As you know, oil prices are very volatile and political factors play a role in this. I do not believe that Qatar’s withdrawal from the OPEC will lead to a domino effect and that OPEC countries are ready for this trend. But it can serve as a certain impetus in this direction, since Qatar is quite an influential country in the energy market," Bagirov said.
Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi has earlier stated that Qatar is withdrawing from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as of January 2019.
Commenting on the decision, the minister noted that Qatar wants to focus on the production of natural and liquefied gas.
OPEC is an international intergovernmental association created by oil producing states to control crude production quotas. OPEC includes Algeria, Angola, Venezuela, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Congo, Kuwait, Qatar, Libya, the UAE, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Equatorial Guinea and Ecuador. Members of the organization control about two thirds of world oil reserves and they account for up to 45 percent of all world production and half of exports.
---
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz