What Countries Belong to OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) And Other Facts

July 10, 2020June 13, 2021 Stan

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is one of the most powerful groups in the entire world. You may have questions as to what the OPEC is, or what countries belong to OPEC. This article will take a few answer those questions.

The OPEC is a group of 12 countries including the following: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Currently, their headquarters is in Vienna and has been since 1965. Every so often, the powers from each country get together and meet about what is going to be best for the entire group in terms of the oil markets.

The OPEC has one principle goal- safeguarding the organization’s interests, helping each country individually and working with the group collectively. They make policies that are to stabilize prices in the oil markets, keeping price as consistent as possible. Like many groups, the OPEC is looking to keep the included countries profitable in producing oil for the rest of the world.

There has been serious criticism about some of the practices of this group; that said, one thing is for sure- they still have a significant pull in the oil markets and can do a great deal to either raise or lower prices. Knowing who they are and what they stand for is important, as we’ll be seeing them more and more in the news.

Only recently we have seen Saudi Arabia speaking about their plans to not produce as much oil to stabilize current prices. The decisions made by this organization can directly influence our lives, as many of us can’t live without gas!