Qatar is leaving Opec, ending almost six decades as a key member of an organisation whose influence as an oil cartel has been on the wane amid rising production from the US and Russia, writes Nassir Shirkhani.
The tiny Persian Gulf state said its surprise move to leave in January had been dictated by the need to focus on expanding its liquefied natural gas production, dismissing suggestions its troubled relations with Opec’s de facto leader Saudi Arabia may have been behind the decision.
