(Bloomberg) – Angola, Africa’s second-biggest crude producer, has no plans to quit OPEC+, an official said, after a broader dispute over production quotas delayed the group’s meeting.
“There is no thought in that direction,” Angola’s OPEC governor Estevao Pedro said by phone on Thursday.
The 23-nation OPEC+ coalition has delayed a crucial meeting by four days to Nov. 30 that would have finalized output caps for 2024. Representatives say more time is needed after outlining lower targets for some African nations by more powerful members, raising speculation that Angola could leave the cartel.
The absence of an OPEC+ deal on output for next year would leave global oil markets in a precarious position, with crude prices down about 16 percent from their September peak as demand growth slows.
The dispute involving African members resolves a dispute since June, when Angola, Congo and Nigeria were pressured by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman to accept reduced production targets for 2024 that reflect their reduced capacity. Exporters on the continent have struggled in recent years with underinvestment, operational outages and aging oil fields.
Angola’s dispute with OPEC may be “difficult to bridge” as the country pushes back against a reduced production quota, RBC Capital Markets LLC chief commodities strategist Helima Croft said in a note on Thursday.
Angola’s oil production has rebounded slightly this year but is consistently short of its target for next year. At 1.17 MMbpd in October, it was 110,000 bpd under its 2024 quota, according to data from the Vienna-based OPEC secretariat.
Nigeria has recently shown that it can push its new boundaries. It pumped 1,416 MMbpd last month, or 36,000 bpd above its 2024 target, the data showed.