E. Guinea Urges Africa Oil Producers to Join OPEC

Equatorial Guinea, OPEC’s newest member, called on fellow African producers to come together to protect the value of their oil resources and join the group. As more discoveries are made across the continent, cooperation among producers is key, the nation’s minister of mines, industry and energy Gabriel Obiang told a conference in Cape Town. “Have a principle and defend your base,” he said, Bloomberg reported. Equatorial Guinea joined OPEC last month, making the group the largest it has ever been. Although small, the country is sub-Saharan Africa’s third-biggest oil producer, after Nigeria and Angola. Like other oil-rich nations, Equatorial Guinea is preparing for a world where energy demand veers away from crude. “If in 10 years, oil becomes a commodity that the developed countries don’t want—They want to focus on just gas, solar—what are the African countries going to do?” Obiang said. “It’s very important to know what our brothers, our bigger brothers in the region, what Nigeria is doing, what Algeria is doing.”