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.
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.
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.
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