Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Created at the baghdad conference on September 10–14, 1960, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a multinational consortium whose purpose is to coordinate and regulate petroleum pricing and policies among its member countries. OPEC was created to assure stable prices for member petroleum producers, securing cost-effective and regular supplies of petroleum and distillates to consuming nations with reasonable profits to its members and investors.

The original founding members were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, which were later joined by Qatar in 1961, Indonesia in 1962, the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Republic in 1962, the United Arab Emirates in 1967, Algeria in 1969, Nigeria in 1971, Ecuador from 1973 to 1992, and Gabon from 1975 to 1994. The organization located its first headquarters ...