Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC):
- OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization of 15 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.
- Origin: OPEC was founded in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq by five countries namely Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
- Present member countries: 15 (6 in the Middle East (Western Asia), 7 in Africa, and 2 in South America).
- HQ: Vienna, Austria.
OPEC+:
- In November of 2016, OPEC and other oil producers, including the world’s largest– Russia – reached a decision to cut 1.8 million barrels of oil per day from global output. Since then, the cost of Brent crude has almost doubled – from $40/bbl to just under $76/bbl.
- This new “Super OPEC” – informally referred to as “OPEC +” and the “Vienna Group” - accounts for 55 % of global oil supply and nearly 80 % of the world’s proven reserves, which gives it tremendous market influence.
- OPEC is also planning to institutionalize this expanded cartel, to include Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Oman, Mexico, Sudan, S. Sudan, and Malaysia.
