OPEC Invites Ecuador To Rejoin

OPEC secretary general Haitham al-Ghais has invited Ecuador to rejoin the producer group according to a letter to the Ecuadorean energy minister Fernando Santos, seen by Argusmedia.

• In the letter al-Ghais said Ecuador’s return would be a top priority and the OPEC would benefit from its return.
• "Ecuador is an important oil producer and exporter, and the secretariat believes that your esteemed country would greatly benefit from the information and knowledge that OPEC shares with its member countries, as well as the possibility of strengthening diplomatic ties with like-minded oil producing countries," the letter said.
• Ecuador first joined OPEC in 1973, followed by several suspension and reactivations of its membership before last leaving in 2019.
• Ecuador plans to produce 490kbpd of crude oil this year, down by 6% from the previous production targets, amid strikes, power outages and shutdown of the main pipeline earlier in the year.