Voltzman

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Angola to become OPEC member this week: Qatari minister -

ABUJA (AFP) - Angola, sub-Saharan Africa's second-biggest oil producer, could be approved as the 12th member of

OPEC at a meeting of the oil exporters' group on Thursday, Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said.

Attiyah, who has recently returned from a trip to the country, said that Angola might present a membership application and could get approval from existing members to join the cartel.

The southern African country, which includes the oil-rich Cabinda enclave nestled between the two Congos, currently produces 1.4 million barrels a day and aims to raise this figure to two million by the end of next year.

The Angolan government had announced at the end of November that it was seeking to join the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose 11 members currently produce about a third of world oil supplies.

"I think this is very good. I think as Qatar we will support it," Attiyah said of the Angolan membership bid.

"I think they will apply in the meeting."

Angola would require approval from three quarters of existing members and support from all of the founding OPEC countries, namely

Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

OPEC spokesman Omar Farouk Ibrahim said that the Angolan membership bid was not on the agenda for the ministerial meeting on Thursday, but he said nothing prevented the application being added.

"We haven't been officially notified that they will present an application," he underlined, stressing that Angola had initially targeted March as a date to become a member.

OPEC currently numbers 11 countries, with Nigeria as the last current member admitted to the club, which aims to stabilise oil prices for its members by controlling oil output.

However, since Nigeria's admission in 1971, Gabon and Ecuador have both joined the organisation and then left.

Angola's vast oil wealth has brought in huge riches for the war-ravaged country, but critics say these have not trickled down, with more than 70 percent of Angola's people still living in dire poverty.

OPEC in February this year held informal discussions in Venezuela on admitting three new countries: Angola, Ecuador and Sudan.

Ecuador, which is being encouraged by Venezuela to return to the oil group, and Sudan, which has been invited by Nigeria, are both believed to be interested in becoming members.

Angola's oil revenues for 2005 rose to 10 billion dollars (7.6 billion euros) from 5.6 billion dollars a year earlier, according to the

International Monetary Fund.

Some analysts have questioned the logic of Angola's bid for OPEC membership, saying the country is projected to finally reap the benefits of investment in its under-developed oil sector.

By joining OPEC, the country would be forced to negotiate quota restrictions which would limit its production and could reduce its oil revenues.

In a recent research note, analysts at Deutsche Bank said membership of OPEC would have an impact for the international oil companies which have invested in the country since the end of its civil war in 2002.

"For those companies involved in Angolan production, most significantly Exxon, Total and BP, its inclusion in OPEC does have the potential to add some additional uncertainty, most significantly around project timing and the potential for future production constraints," they said.

Others have suggested OPEC membership could deter other investments.

Negotiations about the quota limit assigned to the country would take place only once the country had been approved as a member, OPEC spokesman Ibrahim said.