OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) is an institutional organization that had its creation in 1960, in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq; at the initiative of the Government of Venezuela and then Venezuelan Minister of Energy and Mines, Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo.
The founding countries of OPEC were Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Venezuela. Later, Qatar (1961) joined as members ; Indonesia and Libya (1962); United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Gabon (1972), Ecuador (1973) and Angola (2007). However, some of them were discharged: Gabon in 1995, Indonesia in 2008 and Ecuador in 1993, the latter rejoining again in 2007.
Between all of them, they supply more than 40% of the world's oil and possess about 78% of the crude reserves. There are other oil-producing countries that do not belong to OPEC such as Great Britain and the United States, but nations such as Sudan, Mexico, Russia, Norway, among others, cooperate as observers in their meetings.
This organization originated from the fall in oil prices by the large international oil consortiums that dominated the market at will. Therefore, OPEC set as objectives: to establish and control oil prices on the world market; defend individual and collective interests, as well as unify criteria around oil policy and implement production limits in each of the member states.
The headquarters of OPEC has been located in Vienna (Austria) since 1965. As for its structure, it is made up of a Conference, which is the supreme authority of the organization and is in charge of formulating the general policy of the latter. It is followed by the Board of Governors in charge of administrative affairs and managing the decisions of the Conference.
There is also the Secretariat, which carries out executive functions under the direction of a Secretary General, his legal representative. And finally, there is the Economic Commission, which advises the Conference through studies in technical-economic areas that are related to oil prices and the determination of global and regular policies.
Since its inception, OPEC's activity in relation to price setting has been outstanding and its results have favored member countries. However, today the complicated behavior of the oil market does not facilitate the work of OPEC, a strong rise in prices is favorable in the short term, but in the long run it encourages research in other fields and the development of alternative forms of investment. energy, with which prices fall again, thus leaving the situation of OPEC very delicate and what may happen in the future is unpredictable.
Possibly OPEC is going through not so easy moments, due to the war between two of its members (Iran and Iraq), the uneven fall in oil prices years ago, and the use of bases and aircraft from Qatar and the US by of NATO to bomb Libya (member of OPEC).
