Qatar’s exit unlikely to impact Opec

Qatar’s exit from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is unlikely to have a major detrimental impact on the group’s ability to manage oil markets, analysts said yesterday pointing out the tiny state is a minor player with a production of more than 600,000 barrels a day.

Qatar on Monday said that it was quitting Opec from January to focus on its gas ambitions and would not be committed to any agreements made by the group to rebalance oil markets.

The tiny country is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with an estimated 72.5 million tonnes per annum of exports, according to an analysis by Fitch Solutions Macro Research.

“We estimate that Qatar’s move, while likely to fuel tensions with its GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) neighbours, will not decisively affect Opec’s ability to influence the oil market as Qatar represented a very small player within the group. We therefore do not expect it to affect the group’s ability to enact coordinated oil production cuts,” said Fitch Solutions in a report.