Qatar will withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in January and focus on gas production, Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar's new energy minister announced on Monday. 

This decision to withdraw is under the history of Doha, capital of the peninsular Arabian Gulf country Qatar, being locked in a boycott by former neighboring allies including Saudi Arabia for 18 months. 

"Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from the OPEC effective January 2019, and this decision was communicated to OPEC this morning," Kaabi said at a press conference in Doha.  

He added the move represents a "technical and strategic" change and was not "politically motivated."

With an oil production of approximately 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), Qatar accounts for only two percent of global oil reserves and ranks 17th globally in terms of output.

But as the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, the gas production would remain Qatar's top priority.