Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011
THEN On Sept. 14, 1960, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is formed in Baghdad, Iraq, by five founding members: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. OPEC is registered with the United Nations Secretariat two years later on Nov. 6. The organization’s stated principle objectives are (1) to coordinate and unify petroleum policies among its members, (2) ensure the stabilization of prices in international oil markets and (3) provide an efficient economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations and a fair return for those investing in the industry. OPEC’s headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland, for the organization’s first five years before moving to Vienna, Austria, in 1965. NOW Today, OPEC consists of a total of 12 member countries: the original five, plus Qatar, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, and Angola. Its member countries produce about 42 percent of the world’s crude oil and 18 percent of its natural gas. Recently, OPEC hinted that some of its members may reduce oil production as a result of the slowing global economy impacting oil demand in addition to a changing situation in Libya. OPEC’s latest news comes on the heels of the organization’s trimming of its 2011 and 2012 oil-demand forecast amid the current global economic uncertainty. In a statement released last Monday, OPEC said, “The weaker economic recovery is negatively impacting oil demand.”
