OPEC will be happy to expand, open to all, Secretary General of the organization Haytham al-Gais told reporters, Interfax reports.

 “I visited Malaysia, Mexico, Brunei, Azerbaijan, but I’m not saying that I invited them to become members of OPEC. OPEC+ is not a formal organization, it is an alliance of cooperation, and formally OPEC+ members are not members of OPEC – Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan  but feel like members of OPEC,” he said.

 Al-Ghais did not rule out that some countries, when deciding to join OPEC, are afraid to fall under the bill, which is constantly being discussed in the United States – NOPEC (No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act), which allows the US government to file antitrust lawsuits against members  OPEC.

 Commenting on the expansion of dialogue with consumers, al-Ghais said he has visited China and India and is also in constant dialogue with the EU.

 On July 5, at an OPEC seminar, UAE Energy Minister Suheil Al-Mazroui expressed the opinion that the organization would be happy to increase the number of OPEC member countries.  He also noted that the integration of consumers and producers will improve the accuracy of market forecasts.

 The president of the OPEC conference in 2023, Equatorial Guinean Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons Antonio Ondo, said that an increase in the number of OPEC participants would add transparency and predictability to the market.

 Now OPEC includes Algeria, Angola, Venezuela, Gabon, Iraq, Iran, Congo, Kuwait, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Equatorial Guinea.