Qatar leaves OPEC. New front in the Middle East, with the interference of Moscow

From January 2019, Qatar will leave OPEC, the organization of the fifteen major oil producing countries, founded in 1961. In about 60 years of existence, the most famous and influential organization in the world has survived many destabilizing wars over the years in Middle East, creating a unique "cartel" for the global oil trade.

In 2006 everything changed when OPEC also welcomed countries that did not recognize themselves in the Organization. The overwhelming power of Russia and Saudi Arabia was born, which together began to set the rules according to purely national interests. Precisely because of the interference of other countries in OPEC's strategic choices, Qatar has decided to abandon the Organization. Thus in a press conference the Minister for Energy of Quatari Saad Sherida al Kaabi "Our abandonment reflects the desire to concentrate on the production of liquefied natural gas, bringing it from 77 to 110 million tons a year". His country ranks eleventh among OPEC countries in oil production, with a share of 600.000 barrels of crude oil per day, compared to Saudi Arabia's 10 million. For Liquefied Natural Gas, on the other hand, it is the first, with the extraction of 30% of the world product. The former prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al Thani, on the other hand, was more explicit, the OPEC Organization has lost its meaning and no longer serves our national interests. The use made of it often ends up damaging us ".

Returning to Qatar, a greater exploitation of natural gas resources, writes Il Messaggero, will only bring it closer to Iran, the country with which it shares a border line on the North Field, the largest field of liquefied natural gas in the world.

Last week at the G20 in Buenos Aires, Russia and Saudi Arabia decided to limit oil production. Strategy opposed by Donald Trump, who calls for a further lowering of prices to revive consumption and growth in the US. For this reason, the president of the United States has asked his Ministry of Justice to investigate the possibility of invalidating the OPEC agreement, based on the Sherman Act.

Qatar leaves OPEC. New front in the Middle East, with the interference of Moscow

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