what is the organization of the petroleum exporting countries opec 
the term organization of the petroleum exporting countries opec refers to a group of 13 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 1 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 2countries that belong to opec include iran iraq kuwait saudi arabia and venezuela the five founders plus algeria angola congo equatorial guinea gabon libya nigeria and the united arab emirates 3understanding the organization of the petroleum exporting countries opec the organization of the petroleum exporting countries describes itself as a permanent intergovernmental organization the organization is designed to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets this ensures that there is a steady supply for consumers and regular income for petroleum producers 2it is headquartered in vienna austria where the opec secretariat the executive organ carries out opec s day to day business 4 opec was established in baghdad in september 1960 by founding members iran iraq kuwait saudi arabia and venezuela and now has 13 member countries 15the chief executive officer ceo of opec is its secretary general 6 his excellency mohammad sanusi barkindo of nigeria was appointed to the position for a three year term of office on june 2 2016 and was re elected to another three year term in july 2019 78some of the world s greatest oil producing countries such as russia china and the u s do not belong to opec this leaves them free to pursue their own objectives history of the opecas noted above opec was founded in baghdad in 1960 five countries took part in the baghdad conference between sept 10 and 14 that year iran iraq kuwait saudi arabia and venezuela the organization established its secretariat in geneva before finalizing its location in vienna in 1965 three years later opec adopted its declaratory statement of petroleum policy in member countries 1opec s membership expanded to 10 countries in 1969 and was an organization that flew under the radar until arab member countries cut production and banned exports to the united states and the netherlands the embargo was a response to the west s support of israel during the yom kippur war in october 1973 a year later oil prices shot up causing shortages in the u s the embargo was lifted in 1974 9 in 1975 opec had 13 member countries 1in 1976 opec established the opec fund for international development member countries work with developing nations and the international community to provide private and trade sector financing and grants to non member countries 10opec member countriesaccording to its statutes opec membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil and shares the ideals of the organization after the five founding members opec added 11 additional member countries as of 2019 they are in order of joining as follows ecuador withdrew from the organization on jan 1 2020 qatar terminated its membership on jan 1 2019 and indonesia suspended its membership on nov 30 2016 so as of 2020 the organization consists of 13 states 3opec missionaccording to the opec website the group s mission is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry 2the organization is committed to finding ways to ensure that oil prices are stabilized in the international market without any major fluctuations doing this helps keep the interests of member nations while ensuring they receive a regular stream of income from an uninterrupted supply of crude oil to other countries 11opec recognizes the founding nations as full members any country that wishes to join and whose application is accepted by the organization is also considered a full member these countries must have significant crude petroleum exports membership to opec is only granted after receiving a vote from at least three quarters of its full members associate memberships are also granted to countries under special conditions 12the percentage of crude oil reserves held by opec countries in 2021 13