(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) VIENNA, June 30 (KUNA) - OPEC''s Acting Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri warmly received Gabon''s Minister of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons Etienne Dieudonne Ngoubou who announced Gabon''s decision to rejoin the Organization on Thursday.
The talks between Ngoubou and El-Badri, in the presence of the Secretariat staff, focused on the current oil market situation, the Secretariat''s main activities and Gabon''s oil quota set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
"We are very happy to welcome back Gabon into the OPEC group of countries. We look forward to working with the Minister and his colleagues in the coming years," El-Badri said in a press release.
"I am also pleased to see that all the countries that had previously left the Organization have now returned," he added.
On his part, Ngoubou said: "Gabon is delighted that it will once again be a member of OPEC after more than 20 years away." "We believe we can be an active and engaged partner in OPEC''s activities, as the Organization looks to meet both challenges and opportunities in the years ahead," he noted.
Gabon asked to rejoin the Organization in March this year. This was officially confirmed at the 169th Meeting of the Conference held at the OPEC Secretariat on 2 June, 2016. Gabon originally joined OPEC in 1975, before leaving in 1994. (end) amg.gb