​​​​​Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

 

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Organization Establishment:

The idea of ​​establishing the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) emerged during the first Arab Petroleum Conference that was held in Cairo in April 1959, when delegations of the oil exporting countries participated in that conference, whether they are Arab working members or non-Arab Observer members, the idea of ​​creating an organization and its goals.

The organization was established on 10th Sept. 1960 in a meeting held in the Baghdad - Iraq in the presence of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and Venezuela, where they signed the initial agreement of OPEC.

Then, eight other countries joined it gradually: Qatar (1961) Libya (1962), Indonesia (1962), United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1996), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador and Gabon, then Gabon has withdrew in January 1995, as Indonesia suspended its membership in 2009, and Qatar withdrew in December 2018 to settle the organization's members on 14 members who are (Algeria, Angola, Congo, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait , Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates & Venezuela) and it is located in Vienna – Austria

 

The organization's goals :

· Coordination between member states in petroleum policies and deciding what achieves and preserves their individual and societal interests.

·Find ways and means to guarantee price stability in the global oil markets.

·Respecting the interests of producing countries, taking into account the supply to the consuming countries and ensuring an equitable return for investors in the oil field.

·Equality of sovereignty among member states, provided that these states fulfill their obligations according to the statute.

The Organization's General Secretariat, headed by the Secretary-General, supports them in achieving this goal, with the contribution of the Economic Committee and the tripartite ministerial committee concerned with monitoring market conditions, and production quotas

The Ministerial Conference is the supreme authority of OPEC, and it is responsible for setting and formulating the general policy of the organization and deciding how to achieve it. OPEC has a ministerial monitoring committee established in 1993 and its task is to monitor production quotas and exports of member states. Representatives of the member states meet In OPEC within the scope of the Council of Ministers twice a year.