Qatar decides to withdraw its membership from OPEC as of January 2019

Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with effect from 1st January 2019. The decision to withdraw from OPEC came after Qatar reviewed ways to enhance its role internationally and plan its long-term strategy. It has plans to increase its annual exports of Liquified Natural Gas (LPG) from 77 million tons of gas per year to 110 million tons. Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of LPG. It also wants to raise its oil production from 4.8 million barrels of oil equivalent a day to 6.5 million barrels. Currently, the Vienna-based OPEC comprises 15 oil-producing and exporting countries. These are as follows: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia (the de facto leader), United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.