Angola, Sudan poised to join OPEC

[question everything]

Angola, Sudan poised to join OPEC

By CASIMIRO SIONA
Business Week Exclusives

LUANDA, Angola

Angola, the largest sub-Saharan oil producer in Africa after Nigeria, said it will apply to join OPEC next month, while the oil cartel's secretary general said Sudan also was poised to join.

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Joining offers prestige, but would mean adhering to OPEC production quotas -- though members routinely violate the limitations. OPEC agreed in October to cut total production by 1.2 million barrels a day to about 26.3 millions barrels a day as of Nov. 1, and further cuts aimed at shoring up prices could be coming. Oil prices are down about 20 percent since hitting a high above $78 a barrel in mid-July, though light sweet crude for January delivery rose 16 cents to $62.62 a barrel by Thursday afternoon in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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The nation's crude production, most of it from offshore rigs operated by foreign companies, has climbed to around 1.4 million barrels a day but is expected to reach 2 million barrels a day by April. The southwest African country is China's largest supplier of crude after overtaking Saudi Arabia this year.

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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries currently has 11 members. Ibrahim said Gabon, in 1975, was the last country to join the organization, two years after Ecuador joined in 1973. However, both withdrew in the 1990s. Nigeria joined in 1971 and has remained a member. Oil revenues provide around 80 percent of Angola's state income. The country, a former Portuguese colony, is now relatively stable politically after a ruinous two-decade civil war ended in 2002.

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http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8LNFKE82.htm

[BushOut06]

1. Nice to see Sudan being rewarded for their responsible policies

:sarcasm: