Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida Al Kaabiled Qatar’s delegation to the country’s last meeting as member of OPEC – Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries – after announcing recently its withdrawal from the organisation.

Al Kaabi took part in the 175th meeting of the OPEC ministerial conference, which was held in Vienna to discuss a number of developments related to the oil markets and production levels. The meetings also reviewed a number of reports including the report of the Secretary General on oil market outlook, and the report of the 130th meeting of the Economic Commission Board.

The Minister also held a series of talks with OPEC oil ministers on the sidelines of the OPEC meeting. These included talks with oil ministers from Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Iran, and the economy minister from Malaysia. Discussions covered bilateral ties and cooperation in the field of energy, as well as the challenges facing the oil industry in general, and OPEC in particular.

Al Kaabi also had a meeting with OPEC Secretary General Muhammad Barkindo, during which he discussed Qatar’s decision to withdraw membership.

QP signs exploration agreement with Republic of Mozambique

Qatar Petroleum, meanwhile entered into an agreement with an ExxonMobil affiliate to acquire a 10% participating interest in three offshore exploration blocks in the Angoche and Zambezi basins in the Republic of Mozambique.

The agreement is subject to customary regulatory approvals by the government of Mozambique. Following approval, the partners under the consortium will be made up of affiliates of ExxonMobil (operator) with a 50% participating interest, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) with a 20% participating interest, Rosneft with a 20% participating interest, and Qatar Petroleum with a 10% participating interest.

The offshore blocks lie in the Angoche basin and in the Zambezi basin. Both basins are frontier and underexplored. In line with its growth strategy, this opportunity provides Qatar Petroleum with a new country entry to prospective frontier basins with significant hydrocarbon resource potential.