DOHA: Qatar is withdrawing from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ( Opec ) as of January 2019, Saad al-Kaabi, the country's energy minister said on Monday.The decision came after Qatar, one of Opec’s smallest producers but the world’s largest liquefied natural gas exporter, reviewed ways to enhance its role internationally and plan long-term strategy, including focusing on its gas industry, he said.“Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership form OPEC effective January 2019 and this decision was communicated to Opec this morning,” he told a news conference, adding that Qatar would still attend an OPEC meeting in Vienna this week.The announcement comes ahead of the meeting by Opec and its allies including Russia on December 6-7 to discuss cutting supply.The minister said the decision was not easy as Qatar has been in Opec for 57 years, but that the country’s impact on Opec production decisions was small.He stressed that Doha would continue to abide by all its commitments like any other non-Opec oil producer.The withdrawal decision reflects Qatar’s intent to focus its efforts on developing its natural gas industry, the minister said, as the Gulf Arab state moves to increase LNG production from 77 million to 110 million tonnes annually.He said the decision was not linked to a political and economic boycott of Qatar imposed since June 2017 by Opec’s de facto leader Saudi Arabia and three other Arab states.Qatar's oil production is only around 600,000 bpd, while it is the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).Outside OPEC, Russian oil output stood at 11.37 million bpd in November, down from a post-Soviet record of 11.41 million bpd it reached in October, energy ministry data showed on Sunday.Meanwhile, oil producers in the United States continue to churn out record amounts of oil, with crude output at an unprecedented level of more than 11.5 million bpd.With drilling activity still high, most analysts expect US oil production to rise further in 2019.
Qatar announces that it is withdrawing from OPEC in January 2019, after almost 60 years of membership, to focus on natural gas production.