Angola to abide by OPEC production cuts: minister

LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola will respect the production cuts set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), economy minister Manuel Nunes Junior said on Thursday.

"We are going to respect the quotas set by OPEC, we joined OPEC when our country had a high level of oil production," he said. "It was important, necessary and helpful. Oil prices are now recovering in part due to the OPEC cuts."

Angola has lost $14 million a day due to crude output cuts and has not respected OPEC quotas.

The country, which depends heavily on oil revenue, has put off tenders for new oil exploration licences in 2009 due to lower oil prices.

Oil prices peaked at above $147 a barrel last year and are now hovering near the $70/barrel mark.

The minister also said the government would intervene to make sure the price of goods in the African country did not rise excessively.

"Prices are established due to the laws of supply and demand but there are certain imperfections in the market. In those cases the government will intervene," Nunes Junior said.

"The government is vigilant and will carry out the necessary measures in order to stop the rise in prices in our economy."

Angola's inflation eased slightly to 13.82 percent year-on-year in May. The government recently raised its inflation target for the year to 12.5 percent, up from a previous estimate of 10 percent.

On the kwanza, which has been trading weaker against the dollar, the minister said: "We will certainly see the situation improving as it is temporary and will be overcome".