An oil platform in Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 16, 2023. Saulo Angelo / iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus
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Brazil’s National Council for Energy Policy has approved the joining of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) just months before the country is set to host the United Nations COP30 climate change summit.
The approval was in response to a 2023 invitation from OPEC.
“OPEC welcomes the decision approved today by the National Energy Council of the Federative Republic of Brazil (CNPE) that formally paves the way for the participation of Brazil as a Member of the Charter of Cooperation (CoC) between oil producing countries,” a press release from OPEC said. “The decision comes after an initial announcement made by HE Hon. Alexandre Silveira, Minister of Mines and Energy of Brazil, at the 36th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting (ONOMM) on 30 November 2023.”
OPEC was initially established with 12 members in 1960 to stabilize oil markets and coordinate production. Since then, 10 other significant oil-producing countries have joined the organization.
Alexandre Silveira, Brazil’s mines and energy minister, said that Brazil, as a member of OPEC, will not have any binding obligations to the group, such as cuts to production, or participate in decision-making, as The Associated Press reported. The country’s participation will involve being a member of the Charter of Cooperation forum, where nations discuss industry-related issues.
“We should not be ashamed of being oil producers. Brazil needs to grow, develop and create income and jobs,” Silveira said.
Brazil will join OPEC+, [cartel] of oil-exporting nations, months before hosting UN climate summit #COP30 – ‘We should not be ashamed of being oil producers,’ said Brazilian energy minister HT @carbonbrief.org www.cbc.ca/news/busines…
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— Damian Carrington (@dpcarrington.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 5:31 AM
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has worked to battle Amazon deforestation and protect Indigenous rights, but has also said new oil revenues could be used to finance the country’s green energy transition.
Recently, Lula has pushed the nation’s environmental regulator to allow exploratory drilling close to the Amazon River delta, one of the planet’s most biodiverse regions.
Brazil is the seventh-largest producer of oil in the world, with roughly 4.3 million barrels per day — four percent of global output, according to the United States Energy Information Administration. Last year, crude oil became Brazil’s biggest export, surpassing soy.
The U.S. is the biggest producer of oil in the world, pumping out almost 22 million barrels a day. In comparison, Saudi Arabia — OPEC’s largest producer — produces approximately 11 million barrels.
Oil expert Luís Eduardo Duque Dutra, a chemistry professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, said that Brazil’s energy council had also approved its membership in the International Renewable Energy Agency and the International Energy Agency.
“This helps keep track of the global situation, matching the country’s growing importance after developing pre-salt (offshore oil) reserves and its wind and solar energy potentials,” Dutra told The Associated Press.
Lula’s interest in increasing Brazil’s oil production has been met with criticism as the country prepares to host COP30 in November.
“Brazil’s entrance to any OPEC body is another sign of the government’s setback,” said Climate Observatory spokesperson Suely Araújo, as reported by The Associated Press.
Opening new areas to fossil fuel exploration “indicates that we are choosing solutions from the past in the face of a huge challenge for the present and the future,” Araujo added.
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