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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is hoping to give out more membership cards soon, with only 13 countries currently part of the oil producer group.
Haitham al-Ghais, secretary-general of OPEC, wouldn’t reveal the names of the candidates, but mentioned some recent visits to oil-producing countries while cautioning against drawing too much from the information. “I was in Malaysia, I was in Brunei. I was in Azerbaijan, I was in Mexico,” he said following an OPEC conference in Vienna.
When asked about the requirements for becoming an OPEC member, al-Ghais said: “They have to be a net [oil] exporter, they have to have similar goals as OPEC. I think many countries I just named actually fit this profile. So… work in progress.”
Ecuador, a former OPEC member, was invited to rejoin the group in May. “The Organization sees as a top priority that Ecuador joins the OPEC family again,” a letter from the alliance read. There was also some speculation that Guyana would be invited to join, but OPEC has denied this.
Ministers attending the Vienna conference lauded new production cuts by Russia and Saudi Arabia, but no new policies were announced. Some leaders also raised concerns over medium to long-term supply, given the low level of investments in the industry. Al-Ghais called for investments in fossil fuel projects as well as in renewables, to avoid energy supply deficits.
Oil futures were slightly higher, front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM) rose 0.6% early on Thursday, while August Brent crude (CO1:COM) was up 0.2%.
