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NEW YORK (AP) — Gabon's president says his country is in discussions with OPEC about re-joining the bloc of oil-producing countries.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that he didn't see any downside in returning to the organization that the small African nation left in 1995 amid a dispute over annual fees.
Oil prices fell in the past two years from above $100 a barrel to under $30 a barrel earlier this year, though they have bounced back by more than 50 percent since mid-February as many companies scale back output.
Gabon would be the 13-nation OPEC's smallest oil producer. The U.S. government says the country was producing about 240,000 barrels a day in 2014, the most recent data available.
OPEC ministers next meet in June.
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