- Congo prepares to take over from Angola as president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2022. OPEC’s Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo confirmed this news during a press conference held on Monday, August 23rd. The meeting was attended by Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons HE Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua and other state delegates in Brazzaville.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries better known as OPEC was founded in 1960 by five countries: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Since then, the organization has grown to 13 member countries whose mission is to coordinate crude oil prices between its members.
The presidency is rotational and is currently held by Angola. Congo became a full member of OPEC during the 174th meeting of the OPEC Conference held on 22 June 2018 in Vienna, Austria. The democratic republic of Congo is on track to become one of the world’s top oil producers by 2025. Currently, it’s the third-largest crude oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Angola with it being said to produce 336,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
During the meeting held in Brazzaville, Congo, Congo’s hydrocarbons minister HE Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua promised continued support and commitment to OPEC and the Declaration of Cooperation process. OPEC’s secretary-general was also quick to note and commend the unending support to the organization by Congo’s president HE Denis Sassou Nguesso.
He noted, “Your president, His Excellency Nguesso, has been a staunch supporter of the work of OPEC and the DoC, and the organization recognizes his exemplary leadership, acumen, great diplomacy, and tact.
OPEC’s secretary-general promised his support to the Congolese fraternity as they prepare to take over the organization’s presidency and urged them to be vigilant, open to discussion, criticism, and growth.
This move comes amid growing tensions within Africa about how much wealth flows back into their continent from oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia and Nigeria- with many countries claiming they are not receiving enough revenues from these deals.
