Qatar announced on Monday that it was withdrawing from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the world's most influential energy cartel, by January 2019.
Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar's Energy Minister, made the announcement. Al-Kaabi claimed the move to leave OPEC was part of its strategy to enhance its international role by focusing on its gas industry. Qatar is one of OPEC's smallest producers, but is the world's largest supplier of LNG.
Al-Kaabi said Qatar would still attend an OPEC meeting in Vienna on December 6-7 to discus cutting supplies. Al-Kaabi noted the decision to leave OPEC was motivated by the fact that Qatar's influence on the cartel was limited even though it had been a member for decades.
Qatar plans to increase LNG production from 77 million tonnes to 110 million tonnes annually. Al-Kaabi stressed the move to leave OPEC was not related to the ongoing political and economic boycott against it by Saudi Arabia, a major OPEC decision maker, and its regional allies.
