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World oil prices

OPEC welcomes its new member

A new member will contribute an "insignificant change" to the distribution of quotas to reduce oil output

© EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA

VIENNA, May 25. /TASS/. Equatorial Guinea has been accepted as a new member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al-Falih.

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OPEC raises its forecast on global demand for oil

Earlier Khalid Al-Falih told reporters that a new member in the cartel will contribute an "insignificant change" to the distribution of quotas to reduce oil output.

"The share of the reduction will extend to them," he said.

The minister also said that Turkmenistan and Egypt, that earlier indicated their intention to join the deal, will not take part in the negotiations this time.

Until May 25, OPEC had 13 members, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria, Qatar, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nigeria, Libya, Angola and Gabon. Before November 2016, the cartel also included Indonesia, but its membership was suspended, as the country did not comply with the status of a net oil exporter.

A meeting between OPEC and non-member countries is held in Vienna, where the states are discussing extending the agreement on reduction of oil production for 9 months - until March 2018.

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