Opec asks Sudan to join cartel
2006-05-25 12:50
Lagos - Opec invited Sudan to become a full member of the oil cartel on Wednesday, Sudan's official news agency reported.
Sudan is a small oil producer, with output currently around 500 000 barrels per day (bpd), but it has attended meetings of the 11-member cartel for more than five years as an observer and production is rising steadily.
The invitation was made in a letter from Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who holds the rotating presidency of the
Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
"President al-Bashir expressed appreciation to the Nigerian president and promised to study the invitation and respond to it in the future," the Suna agency website reported.
Opec is due to hold its next ministerial conference to discuss output policy on June 1 in Caracas, Venezuela.