Qatar’s Minister of Energy has said that the country will leave the Organsiation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries by January 2019.
Addressing a news conference in Doha, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said the Middle East nation is leaving to focus on its liquefied natural gas production.
“Achieving our ambitious strategy will undoubtedly require focused efforts, commitment and dedication to maintain and strengthen Qatar’s position as the leading LNG producer. I would like to reaffirm Qatar’s pride in its international standing at the forefront of natural gas producers, and as the biggest exporter of LNG,” said Saad.
According to the International Energy Agency, Qatar is OPEC’s 11th producing country in the group with 0.6m b/d.
It was the 1st country to join OPEC after the five founding countries; Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela – and it is the first to leave.
