Brazil is set to join the OPEC+ group of the world’s largest oil-producing countries from January 2024, Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira announced on Thursday.
Led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, OPEC+ comprises the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, and together pumps around 40% of the world’s crude.
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Brazil’s membership announcement was made during an OPEC+ meeting to discuss oil output strategy for next year.
“President Lula [da Silva] confirmed our entry into the OPEC+ cooperation charter from January 2024,” Silveira told the group, according to a video circulated by delegates.
The move comes after OPEC+ members Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the UAE were invited to join the BRICS group of major emerging economies, which currently consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
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Brazil extracted record volumes of oil and gas this past summer. It is set to ramp up its energy output by 75% in 2030, and has boosted the development of its oil-rich offshore reserve trapped below a 2,000m-thick layer of salt.
Brazil exported an average of 1.8 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) in the third quarter of 2023, marking a 40% increase year-on-year, according to official data.
It is not clear yet if the Latin American country would be required to conduct production cuts starting next year as a result of its membership.
The OPEC+ group agreed this week to deepen output reductions to about 2.2 million bpd in 2024.