Angola’s possible return to OPEC

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to RIA Novosti and the Prime news agency on Angola's discussed return to OPEC+.

"For OPEC+ and for OPEC, the return of Angola... like her departure at the end of 2023, it is not fundamental. As part of the general agreement, this is not such a large producer, its production is relatively stable. There are no prospects for any significant growth, as there are no prospects for a decline, given the position of the national authorities. Therefore, whether Angola participates in OPEC and OPEC+ has little effect on the global oil market, since its production is more or less stable, regardless of the legal framework," the expert said.

Angola left OPEC at the end of 2023, as it did not agree with its quota, and production cuts under the OPEC+ deal did not meet its national interests. Belogoryev suggested that the country needed to leave the organization in order to attract Western oil companies. And, according to him, over the past two years, many majors have entered Angolan projects, in particular Shell and Chevron. Exxonmobil, TotalEnergies and a number of other companies are also preparing to enter.

Nevertheless, production in Angola has been steadily declining since 2016, and the best that the country's authorities can count on is to keep production in the region of 1 million barrels per day. In general, the expert explained, since the exit from the deal, the task of attracting investments has been completed. And given that OPEC+ moved from reducing oil production to increasing it in 2025, participation in the alliance no longer looks burdensome for Angola.