Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

Dictionary: OPEC (ō'pĕk')

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Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

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Investment Dictionary: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries - OPEC

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An organization consisting of the world's major oil-exporting nations, OPEC was founded in 1960 to coordinate the petroleum policies of its members and to provide member states with technical and economic aid. OPEC is a cartel that aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil on the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.

Investopedia Says:
OPEC membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil and that shares the ideals of the organization. OPEC has 11 member countries, including founder members Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Venezuela.

OPEC member nations currently supply about 40% of the world's crude oil and 16% of its natural gas. At the end of 2003, OPEC nations possessed about 78% of the world's total proven crude oil reserves.

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Financial & Investment Dictionary: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

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International organization of eleven developing countries dependent on oil exports as a source of revenues. Members are Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC members supply about 40% of the world's oil output and claim to possess over three quarters of known oil reserves. Twice a year, or more often if required, the Oil and Energy Ministers of the OPEC Members meet to determine production quotas aimed at optimizing world oil prices given supply and demand conditions.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: OPEC

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Multinational organization established in 1960 to coordinate the petroleum production and export policies of its members. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela were the original members; they were joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia and Libya (1962), Abu Dhabi (1967; membership transferred to the United Arab Emirates, 1974), Algeria (1967), Nigeria (1971), and Angola (2007). Ecuador (1973) and Gabon (1975) are no longer OPEC members. Policy decisions are taken by consensus at its Vienna headquarters. In 1973 OPEC began a series of oil price increases in retaliation for Western support of Israel in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, and OPEC members' income greatly increased as a result. Internal dissent, the development of alternative energy sources in the West, and Western exploitation of oil sources in non-OPEC countries subsequently combined to reduce the organization's influence. OPEC countries supply about two-fifths of the world's oil consumption and possess about two-thirds of the world's proven oil reserves.

For more information on OPEC, visit Britannica.com.

Columbia Encyclopedia: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

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Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), multinational organization (est. 1960, formally constituted 1961) that coordinates petroleum policies and economic aid among oil-producing nations. Its Board of Governors and board chairperson are elected by member nations; OPEC's headquarters are in Vienna, Austria. Members consist of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador (membership suspended 1992-2007), Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Indonesia was a member but suspended its membership in 2008. Saudi Arabia has traditionally dominated the organization, owing to its enormous oil reserves; the organization's members produce about 40% of the world's crude oil.

In 1973, as a result of the Arab oil embargo against Western nations who supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War (see Arab-Israeli Wars), OPEC was able to raise oil prices tremendously; the price hike caused inflation in oil-importing nations. Increases ensued from 1975 to 1980. However, as importing countries pursued alternate energy resources, OPEC was forced to lower prices by 1982. Oil prices remained low through most of the 1980s and 90s, with only a temporary hike during the Persian Gulf crisis of 1990-91 (see Persian Gulf War). With the cooperation of non-OPEC oil-exporting nations, OPEC was able to raise prices in 1999 by cutting production. As prices rose above $30 a barrel in early 2000, OPEC members agreed to increase production somewhat, cutting back production again a year later in an attempt to maintain prices. A worldwide economic slowdown caused oil prices to fall to near $20 by late 2001, but cutbacks by OPEC and non-OPEC nations, an economic rebound (including very strong economic growth in China), and the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq subsequently caused benchmark prices to rise and stay above $40 in mid-2004. Efforts by OPEC to control prices, however, have generally been less influential than market forces, which in 2008 drove the price of oil to nearly $150 in midyear and down to below $40 the year's end.

Intelligence Encyclopedia: OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)

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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a coalition of eleven nations that controls over fifty percent of the world's oil and natural gas exports. OPEC members are Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC strives to protect the economic interests of participating countries while maintaining a stable petroleum market by establishing production quotas for its member states.

Large Western oil companies controlled and profited from oil production in the Middle East and Africa in the first half of the twentieth century. The oil companies angered the leaders of these oil-rich countries by retaining 65 percent of the profits. OPEC was established in 1960 in order for the oil producing countries to maintain a larger percentage of oil-derived profits.

Although OPEC represented its members in negotiations with the large oil companies, the organization exercised little control over the world oil market until 1973. With inflation spiraling around the world and with increasing oil demands in the United States and Europe, OPEC realized that the stage was set for a major power grab.

Inflation led the Richard M. Nixon administration to place price controls on oil products in March 1973, resulting in increased demand. Faced with oil shortages because of increased demand, Nixon tapped U.S. oil reserves. By autumn 1973, the U.S. had nearly drained its reserves. The United States had become more dependent on oil imports than ever before.

The Yom Kippur War began in October 1973, with the United States and Western Europe supporting Israel over Egyptian and Syrian forces. OPEC, comprised primarily of Middle Eastern countries sympathetic to Egypt and Syria, made a move to seize increased control of the world oil market. OPEC imposed an oil embargo against the United States and increased oil prices in Europe. The price of crude oil doubled in a matter of days, from three U.S. dollars per barrel to over five dollars per barrel. In January 1974, prices reached 11.75 dollars per barrel.

The oil embargo of 1973–1974 inconvenienced frustrated Americans, who had to modify their lifestyles to accommodate the steep increase in oil prices. The White House encouraged Americans to conserve energy by driving less, carpooling, and turning down thermostats. The Nixon administration responded by extending Daylight Savings Time in the United States, encouraging companies to trim work hours, and pushing Congress to approve construction of the Alaskan Pipeline.

The energy crisis that resulted from the OPEC embargo fueled a worldwide recession. The Dow-Jones lost 45 percent over the next two years. Oil shortages led to long lines at gasoline pumps. When OPEC finally lifted the oil embargo against the U.S. in March 1974, it had established itself as one of the most powerful economic forces in the world.

OPEC's strategy backfired, however, when public and political opinion in the United States and Europe was inflamed. The United States increased its oil production with the completion of the Alaskan Pipeline in 1977. Large American and European oil companies also sought to regain some of their lost influence by increasing oil exploration in non-OPEC countries and offshore. As a result, much of the power that OPEC had wielded over world energy markets was eroding.

For the first several years of the 2000s, OPEC sought a stable oil market by maintaining an average price of $22 to $28 per barrel of crude oil; exerting price controls had become more difficult and less profitable for members. An example of OPEC's increasing ineffectiveness occurred in 2001, when crude oil prices fell by one-third. During the same year, OPEC cut its oil production by over twenty percent.

OPEC has experienced periods of waning effectiveness in the past, but these periods were usually the result of internal disagreements. OPEC's more recent problems stem from the rise of large, non-OPEC oil producing states, such as Russia, Norway, Mexico, Oman, and Angola. In order for OPEC to remain a viable power, it needs the cooperation of these states. Russia, Norway, and Mexico have tended to follow OPEC's lead, but continued support from these states is questionable. Russia has already indicated that it will proceed independently for the fore-seeable future.

Many OPEC members have expressed an unwillingness to limit their oil production and profits if non-OPEC countries continue pumping at full capacity and flooding the market with cheap oil. If OPEC cannot hold sway over these emerging oil-producing states, then the primary reason for the existence of OPEC may eventually be in question.

History

OPEC headquarters in Vienna

Venezuela was the first country to move towards the establishment of OPEC in the 1960s by approaching Iran, Gabon, United Kingdom, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in 1949, suggesting that they exchange views and explore avenues for regular and closer communication among petroleum-producing nations.^{[citation needed]} In 10-14 September 1960, at the initiative of the Venezuelan Energy and Mines minister Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo and the Saudi Arabian Energy and Mines minister Abdullah al-Tariki, the governments of Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela met in Baghdad to discuss ways to increase the price of the crude oil produced by their respective countries.^{[citation needed]} OPEC was founded in Baghdad, triggered by a 1960 law instituted by American President Dwight Eisenhower that forced quotas on Venezuelan and Persian Gulf oil imports in favor of the Canadian and Mexican oil industries.^{[citation needed]} Eisenhower cited national security, land access to energy supplies, at times of war.^{[citation needed]} When this led to falling prices for oil in these regions, Venezuela's president Romulo Betancourt reacted by seeking an alliance with oil producing Arab nations as a preemptive strategy to maintain the continued autonomy and profitability of Venezuela's oil resources.^{[citation needed]}

Oil exports imports difference

As a result, OPEC was founded to unify and coordinate members' petroleum policies. Original OPEC members include Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Between 1960 and 1975, the organization expanded to include Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), and Nigeria (1971). Ecuador and Gabon were members of OPEC, but Ecuador withdrew on December 31, 1992^[9] because they were unwilling or unable to pay a $2 million membership fee and felt that they needed to produce more oil than they were allowed to under the OPEC quota.^[10] Similar concerns prompted Gabon to follow suit in January 1995 [5]. Angola joined on the first day of 2007. Norway and Russia have attended OPEC meetings as observers. Indicating that OPEC is not averse to further expansion, Mohammed Barkindo, OPEC's Secretary General, recently asked Sudan to join.^[11] Iraq remains a member of OPEC, but Iraqi production has not been a part of any OPEC quota agreements since March 1998.

In May 2008, Indonesia announced that it would leave OPEC when its membership expired at the end of that year, having become a net importer of oil and being unable to meet its production quota.^[12] A statement released by OPEC on 10 September 2008 confirmed Indonesia's withdrawal, noting that it "regretfully accepted the wish of Indonesia to suspend its full Membership in the Organization and recorded its hope that the Country would be in a position to rejoin the Organization in the not too distant future." ^[13]

End of Bretton Woods

Main articles: Bretton Woods system and Nixon Shock

The United States unilaterally pulled out of the Bretton Woods Accord and took the US off the established Gold Exchange Standard on August 15, 1971. With that standard, only the value of the US dollar was pegged to the price of gold and all other currencies were pegged to the US dollar. The change now allowed the dollar to "float", and shortly thereafter other industrialized nations followed suit with their respective currencies, also in anticipation of currency fluctuations as they stabilized, they increased their reserves (printing money) in amounts far greater than ever before. Attempts by the Group of Ten to stabilize the situation were generally ineffective. The result was a depreciation of the value of the US dollar, as well as other currencies, and increasing inflation pressures worldwide.

Because the producer’s petroleum still was priced in dollars, it meant that they were receiving less real income for the same amount of oil production. OPEC was slow to readjust oil prices to reflect this depreciation; OPEC ministers had not developed the institutional mechanisms to update prices rapidly enough to keep up with changing market conditions, so their real incomes lagged for several years. Eventually, the OPEC cartel issued a joint communique stating that they would price a barrel of oil against gold.^[5] On-going negotiations, between OPEC and the major oil companies to revise the oil price agreement established in 1971 in Tehran, finally failed on October 10, 1973.

1973 oil embargo

Main article: 1973 oil crisis

Long-term oil Prices, 1861-2007 (orange line adjusted for inflation, blue not adjusted).

The persistence of the Arab-Israeli conflict finally triggered a response that transformed OPEC into a formidable political force. After the Six Day War of 1967, the Arab members of OPEC formed a separate, overlapping group, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, for the purpose of centering policy and exerting pressure on the West over its support of Israel. Egypt and Syria, though not major oil-exporting countries, joined the latter grouping to help articulate its objectives. Later, the Yom Kippur War of 1973 galvanized Arab opinion. Furious at the emergency re-supply effort that had enabled Israel to withstand Egyptian and Syrian forces, the Arab world imposed the 1973 oil embargo against the United States and Western Europe, while non-Arab OPEC members did not.^{[citation needed]}

The 1980s oil gluts

Main article: 1980s oil glut

OPEC net oil export revenues for 1971 - 2007.^[14]

After 1980, oil prices began a six-year decline that culminated with a 46 percent price drop in 1986. This was due to reduced demand and over-production that produced a glut on the world market. This caused OPEC to lose its unity. OPEC net oil export revenues fell in the 1980s.

Responding to war and low prices

Main articles: Oil price increase of 1990 and Oil price increases since 2003

Leading up to the 1990-91 Gulf War, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein advocated that OPEC push world oil prices up, thereby helping Iraq, and other member states, service debts. But the division of OPEC countries occasioned by the Iraq-Iran War and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait marked a low point in the cohesion of OPEC. Once supply disruption fears that accompanied these conflicts dissipated, oil prices began to slide dramatically.

After oil prices slumped at around $15 a barrel in the late 1990s, concerted diplomacy, sometimes attributed to Venezuela’s president Hugo Chávez, achieved a coordinated scaling back of oil production beginning in 1998. In 2000, Chávez hosted the first summit of heads of state of OPEC in 25 years. The next year, however, the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, the following invasion of Afghanistan, and 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation prompted a surge in oil prices to levels far higher than those targeted by OPEC during the preceding period. Indonesia withdrew from OPEC to protect its oil supply interests.

On November 19, 2007, global oil prices reacted strongly as OPEC members spoke openly about potentially converting their cash reserves to the euro and away from the US dollar.^[15]

On October 10, 2008, oil traded below $85 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In response OPEC has stated that it will meet November 18, 2008, a month ahead of their regularly scheduled meeting to discuss cutting production as oil experiences declining world demand.^[16]

Production disputes

The economic needs of the OPEC member states often affects the internal politics behind OPEC production quotas. Various members have pushed for reductions in production quotas to increase the price of oil and thus their own revenues. These demands conflict with Saudi Arabia's stated long-term strategy of being a partner with the world's economic powers to ensure a steady flow of oil that would support economic expansion.^[17] Part of the basis for this policy is the Saudi concern that expensive oil or oil of uncertain supply will drive developed nations to conserve and develop alternative fuels. To this point, former Saudi Oil Minister Sheikh Yamani famously said in 1973: "The stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones."^[18]

One such production dispute occurred on September 10, 2008, when the Saudis reportedly walked out of OPEC negotiating session where the cartel voted to reduce production. Although Saudi Arabian OPEC delegates officially endorsed the new quotas, they stated anonymously that they would not observe them. The New York Times quoted one such anonymous OPEC delegate as saying “Saudi Arabia will meet the market’s demand. We will see what the market requires and we will not leave a customer without oil. The policy has not changed.”^[19]

Membership

Current members

OPEC has twelve member countries: six in the Middle East, four in Africa, and two in South America.

Country	Region	Joined OPEC^[20]	Population (July 2008)^[21]	Area (km²)^[22]
Algeria	Africa	1969	33,779,668	2,381,740
Angola	Africa	2007	12,531,357	1,246,700
Ecuador	South America	2007^{[A 1]}	13,927,650	283,560
Iran	Middle East	1960^{[A 2]}	65,875,224	1,648,000
Iraq	Middle East	1960^{[A 2]}	28,221,180	437,072
Kuwait	Middle East	1960^{[A 2]}	2,596,799	17,820
Libya	Africa	1962	6,173,579	1,759,540
Nigeria	Africa	1971	149,255,312	923,768
Qatar	Middle East	1961	824,789	11,437
Saudi Arabia	Middle East	1960^{[A 2]}	28,146,656	2,149,690
United Arab Emirates	Middle East	1967	4,621,399	83,600
Venezuela	South America	1960^{[A 2]}	26,414,816	912,050
Total			369,368,429	11,854,977 km²

^ Ecuador initially joined in 1973, left in 1992, and rejoined in 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e One of five founder members that attended the first OPEC conference, in September 1960.

Former members

Country	Region	Joined OPEC	Left OPEC
Gabon	Africa	1975	1994
Indonesia	East Asia	1962	2008

The United States was a member during its formal occupation of Iraq via the Coalition Provisional Authority.^[23]^[24]

Economics

OPEC decisions have had considerable influence on international oil prices. For example, in the 1973 energy crisis OPEC refused to ship oil to western countries that had supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War or 6 Day War, which they fought against Egypt and Syria. This refusal caused a fourfold increase in the price of oil, which lasted five months, starting on October 17, 1973, and ending on March 18, 1974. OPEC nations then agreed, on January 7, 1975, to raise crude oil prices by 10%. At that time, OPEC nations — including many who had recently nationalized their oil industries — joined the call for a new international economic order to be initiated by coalitions of primary producers. Concluding the First OPEC Summit in Algiers they called for stable and just commodity prices, an international food and agriculture program, technology transfer from North to South, and the democratization of the economic system.^{[citation needed]} Overall, the evidence suggests that OPEC did act as a cartel, when it adopted output rationing in order to maintain price.^[25]

Since currently worldwide oil sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, changes in the value of the dollar against other world currencies affect OPEC's decisions on how much oil to produce. For example, when the dollar falls relative to the other currencies, OPEC-member states receive smaller revenues in other currencies for their oil, causing substantial cuts in their purchasing power. After the introduction of the euro, pre-invasion Iraq decided it wanted to be paid for its oil in euros instead of US dollars causing OPEC to consider changing its oil exchange currency to euros, although after Iraq's invasion, the interim government reversed this policy, and the subsequent Iraq governments stuck to the US dollar.^[26] Member states Iran^[27] and Venezuela^[28] have undergone similar shifts from the dollar to the Euro.

Current quotas

OPEC Quotas and Production in thousands of barrels per day ^[29]
Country	Quota (7/1/05)	Production (1/07)	Capacity
Algeria	894	1,360	1,430
Angola	1,900	1,700	1,700
Ecuador	520	500	500
Iran	4,110	3,700	3,750
Iraq		1,481
Kuwait	2,247	2,500	2,600
Libya	1,500	1,650	1,700
Nigeria	2,306	2,250	2,250
Qatar	726	810	850
Saudi Arabia	10,099	8,800	10,500
United Arab Emirates	2,444	2,500	2,600
Venezuela	3,225	2,340	2,450
Total	31,422	30,451	32,230

Using quotas to help mitigate global warming

As fossil fuel consumption produces large amounts of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases, it has been proposed that if OPEC and the IEA established the proper production quota system, global warming effects could be reduced.^[30] While OPEC is indeed drastically reducing its output, this is due to financial reasons, not social ones.^[31]

References

^ Chapter I, Article 6 of The Statute of the organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (as amended)
^ A brief history of OPEC
^ http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/09/10/afx5406908.html
^ Chapter I, Article 2 of The Statute of the organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (as amended)
^ ^a ^b Hammes, David and Wills, Douglas. “Black Gold: The End of Bretton Woods and the Oil-Price Shocks of the 1970s,” The Independent Review, v. IX, n. 4, Spring 2005. pp. 501-511.[1]
^ BP plc. "British Petroleum table of world oil production". Retrieved June 18, 2007.
^ Al Jazeera English - Archive - Is Opec Losing Control Over Oil Price?
^ BW Online | January 20, 2003 | Is OPEC About to Lose Control of the Spigot?
^ OPEC, by Benjamin Zycher: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: Library of Economics and Liberty
^ Ecuador Set to Leave OPEC - New York Times
^ Angola, Sudan to ask for OPEC membership Houston Chronicle
^ Indonesia to withdraw from Opec
^ [2]
^ http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/OPEC_Revenues/OPEC.html
^ [3]
^ [4]
^ Speech by Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi: Saudi oil policy: stability with strength
^ Washington diary: Oil addiction
^ Saudis Vow to Ignore OPEC Decision to Cut Production
^ "Who are OPEC Member Countries?". Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. http://www.opec.org/library/faqs/aboutopec/q3.htm. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
^ "Field Listing - Population". CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
^ "Field Listing - Area". CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2147.html. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
^ Noah, Timothy (2007-07-10). "Go NOPEC! Congress takes on the biggest, baddest cartel of all". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2170040/nav/tap3/. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
^ Noah, Timothy (2003-09-18). "Is Bremer a Price Fixer? Letting Iraq's oil minister attend an OPEC meeting may violate the Sherman Antitrust Act". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2088602/.
^ http://fmwww.bc.edu/EC-P/WP318.pdf
^ Iraq: Baghdad Moves To Euro
^ Iran's euro-denominated oil bourse to open in March: US Dollar Crisis on the Horizon
^ Bloomberg.com: Latin America
^ Quotas as reported by the United States Department of Energy
^ "Climate Control: a proposal for controlling global greenhouse gas emissions" (PDF). Sustento Institute. http://sustento.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/climate-control.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
^ "Gas too cheap: OPEC approves largest output cut ever". AutoBlog.com. http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/17/gas-too-cheap-opec-approves-largest-output-cut-ever/. Retrieved 2008-12-17.

External links

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Translations: Opec

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Dansk (Danish)
abbr. - the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
n. - Organisation af Olieeksporterende Lande

Nederlands (Dutch)
OPEC, organisatie van olie-exporterende landen

Français (French)
abbr. - OPEP
n. - Organisation des Pays Exportateurs de Pétrole

Deutsch (German)
abbr. - OPEC, (Organisation erdölexportierender Länder)
n. - OPEC

Ελληνική (Greek)
abbr. - ΟΠΕΚ (Οργανισμός Πετρελαιοεξαγωγικών Χωρών)

Italiano (Italian)
O.P.E.C.

Português (Portuguese)
abbr. - OPEP

Русский (Russian)
ОПЕК, Орг. Стран - Экспортеров Нефти

Español (Spanish)
abbr. - O.P.E.P., Organización de Países Exportadores de Petróleo
n. - O.P.E.P., Organización de Países Exportadores de Petróleo

Svenska (Swedish)
abbr. - de oljeexporterande ländernas organ (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
石油输出国组织, 石油输出国家组织

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
abbr. - 石油輸出國組織
n. - 石油輸出國家組織

한국어 (Korean)
abbr. - Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (석유수출국기구)
n. - 석유수출국 기구

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 石油輸出国機構

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(اختصار) Oقزحظسوحكسعظ عر Petroleum Exporting Countries, منظمه الدول المصدرة للبترول‏

עברית (Hebrew)
abbr., - ‮איגוד המדינות המייצרות נפט, אופ"ק‬

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		Economics Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Read more
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