[ad_1]
Brazil will start the process of joining the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Plus (OPEC+) alliance this January.
OPEC announced the development after a virtual ministerial meeting Thursday, when several Plus alliance members also announced further production cuts.
“The Meeting welcomed HE [His Excellency] Alexandre Silveira de Oliveira, Minister of Mines and Energy of the Federative Republic of Brazil, which will join the OPEC+ Charter of Cooperation starting January 2024”, OPEC said in a statement, not providing further details.
The Charter of Cooperation, signed July 2, 2019, aims to secure sustained oil relations between the OPEC and non-OPEC countries in the OPEC+ alliance.
It was not clear whether Brasilia would join as a full member, in which case it needs to secure a majority vote from the full members, which include Latin American neighbor Venezuela.
Membership could also be in an associate form, according to the OPEC Statute.
Eleven other oil-producing nations including Russia have also forged an alliance with OPEC through a declaration of cooperation signed December 10, 2016, forming what is now known as OPEC+.
Earlier Silveria said a memorandum of understanding was signed between the energy ministries of Brazil and OPEC top exporter Saudi Arabia to boost cooperation in the development of oil and gas, as well as renewable energy.
In a speech in Riyadh on Wednesday President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke of strengthening collaborations in agriculture and renewable energy between Brazil and the kingdom but did not discuss Brazil’s potential entry into OPEC+.
In October OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais received Brazil’s highest rank of the Order of the Grand Cross, a presidential award.
The Kuwaiti played a key role in finalizing the treaty of cooperation that led to OPEC’s expansion into OPEC+, according to his bio on the OPEC website.
Addressing the awarding ceremony October 18 in the Brazilian capital, Al Ghais called the Amazon nation “a leading oil-producing country and influential player in the global energy industry”.
“Brazil possesses a long-standing history in the energy markets and will continue to enjoy a bright future as a leading global energy provider”, Al Ghais added, as quoted in an OPEC press release.
“We look forward to working closely together with Brazil as we continue investing in the industry to ensure energy security, reduce emissions and eradicate energy poverty in just, inclusive energy transitions that leave no one behind”, the OPEC chief said at the time.
OPEC last added a full member 2018 with the entry of the Republic of the Congo.
With Qatar’s exit 2019, OPEC currently counts 13 countries as full members.
The OPEC Statute specifies, “Any other country with a substantial net export of crude petroleum, which has fundamentally similar interests to those of Member Countries, may become a Full Member of the Organization, if accepted by a majority of three-fourths of Full Members, including the concurrent vote of all Founder Members”.
Associate membership meanwhile is granted “under special conditions” and “if accepted by a majority of three-fourths, including the concurrent vote of all Founder Members”.
Venezuela is the only country in Latin America that is a full member. Venezuela helped found OPEC with the signing of an agreement 1960 along with the four other founding nations, the Gulf states Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile OPEC also confirmed further voluntary output curbs by several Plus alliance members totaling 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), a move it said is “aimed at supporting the stability and balance of oil markets”.
“These voluntary cuts are calculated from the 2024 required production level as per the 35th OPEC Ministerial Meeting held on June 4 2023, and are in addition to the voluntary cuts previously announced in April 2023 and later extended until the end of 2024”, it said in the media statement.
The reductions announced April 2 total 1.66 million bpd.
In the latest rollbacks Saudi Arabia has the biggest at one million bpd, followed by Russia at 500,000 bpd.
The fresh production cuts take effect throughout the first quarter of next year. “Afterwards, in order to support market stability, these voluntary cuts will be returned gradually subject to market conditions”, OPEC said.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
[ad_2]
Source link