ANGOLA REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO BOOSTING OIL REVENUE

 The Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil & Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, declared last Monday, in his first speech in his capacity as chairman of OPEC, that Angola will maintain its efforts to boost the profitability of the oil market, taking into account the current economic and financial situation.

Speaking at the 23rd meeting of OPEC and its Non-OPEC partners, taking place in Vienna, Austria, Diamantino Azevedo stressed that the expectations of global demand in the oil market is around 96 million barrels per day, but the recent production was four million below the pre-pandemic projections in the year 2020.

He stressed that Angola continues to work to help restore stability and confidence in the oil market in the long term, as well as to consumers, investors and the global economy, in order to reenergize the sector.

He said that OPEC's projections for growth in demand for crude oil in 2021, around 5.9 million barrels per day, are a welcome turnaround, given the devastation of the market last year, which has started a new important stage of production adjustments.

"We are making the transition from crisis management to supporting global recovery," said the OPEC president.

The benefits of the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC), according to the official, were clear enough in the context of the 2014-2016 market crisis. it helped restore market confidence and stability, he said, and paved the way for the Charter of Cooperation in 2019, giving the country a new platform for collaboration, in addition to the important market balance process.

He acknowledged that 2020 was a difficult year for all economies, due to covid-19, for opening "deep holes in budgets and significantly delaying investment plans".

Despite the difficult situation, he went on, Angola is proud to participate directly in the decision-making process that led the Organization to broaden the scope of collaboration through the Cooperation Declaration.

Diamantino Azevedo believes that, regardless of the complex challenges of countries and companies, with unity everything is possible.

DoC is the Declaration of Cooperation signed in 2016 between members of OPEC and 10 other countries, which obliges the parties to decide together issues on the stabilization of the oil market.