Editing OPEC (section)

{{Short description|International petroleum organization}}
{{Distinguish|Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
| image_flag             = Flag of OPEC.svg
| image_coat             = Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Logo.svg
| symbol_type            = Emblem
| image_map              = OPEC and OPEC+.png
| image_map_caption      = OPEC and OPEC+ members
| org_type               = Organization<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=GLOSSARY |url=https://www.eia.gov/tools/glossary/index.php?id=O#opec |access-date=8 April 2024 |website=U.S. Energy Information Administration}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Citation |last=Jelley |first=Nick |title=OPEC |date=2017-01-19 |work=A Dictionary of Energy Science |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191826276.001.0001/acref-9780191826276-e-475 |access-date=2024-04-08 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780191826276.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-182627-6|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
| membership_type        = Membership
| membership             = [[OPEC#Membership|12 OPEC members<br />11 OPEC+ members<br />5 observer states]]
| admin_center_type      = Headquarters
| admin_center           = [[Vienna]], Austria
| official_languages     = English
| leader_title1          = [[List of Secretaries General of OPEC|Secretary General]]
| leader_name1           = [[Haitham al-Ghais]]
| established            = [[Baghdad]], Iraq
| established_event1     = Statute
| established_date1      = {{nowrap|{{Start date and age|September 1960|df=y|p=y}}}}
| established_event2     = In effect
| established_date2      = {{Start date and age|January 1961|df=y|p=y}}<!-- The article needs to explain the concept of currency for OPEC
| currency               = {{nowrap|Indexed as [[USD]] per [[Barrel (unit)|barrel]]}} ([[Price of oil|USD$/bbl]]) -->
| official_website       = {{URL|https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en|opec.org}}
| demonym                = 
| area_km2               = 
| area_rank              = 
| GDP_PPP                = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 
| HDI                    = 
| HDI_year               = 
| today                  = 
}}

The '''Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries''' ('''OPEC''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|oʊ|p|ɛ|k}} {{respell|OH|pek}}) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize [[Profit (economics)|profit]]. It was founded on 14 September 1960 in [[Baghdad]] by the first five members: [[Iran]], [[Iraq]], [[Kuwait]], [[Saudi Arabia]], and [[Venezuela]]. The organization, which currently comprises 12 member countries, accounted for 38 percent of [[List of countries by oil production|global oil production]], according to a 2022 report.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Where our oil comes from - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) |url=https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/where-our-oil-comes-from.php |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=www.eia.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-05-03 |title=Opec: What is it and what is happening to oil prices? |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61188579}}</ref> Additionally, it is estimated that 79.5 percent of the world's proven oil reserves are located within OPEC nations, with the [[Middle East]] alone accounting for 67.2 percent of OPEC's total reserves.<ref name=":5">Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. (2023). ''OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin'' (58th ed.), 90 pages. Retrieved from https://asb.opec.org/. ISSN: 0475-0608. (See pages 7 and 22).</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=OPEC Share of World Crude Oil Reserves |url=https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/data_graphs/330.htm}}</ref>

In a series of steps in the 1960s and 1970s, OPEC restructured the global system of oil production in favor of oil-producing states and away from an [[oligopoly]] of dominant Anglo-American oil firms (the "[[Seven Sisters (oil companies)|Seven Sisters]]").{{sfn|Colgan|2021|loc=The Rise of OPEC, pp. 59–93}} In the 1970s, [[1970s energy crisis|restrictions in oil production]] led to a dramatic rise in oil prices with long-lasting and far-reaching consequences for the global economy. Since the 1980s, OPEC has had a limited impact on world oil-supply and oil-price stability, as there is frequent cheating by members on their commitments to one another, and as member commitments reflect what they would do even in the absence of OPEC.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Colgan |first=Jeff D. |title=Partial Hegemony: Oil Politics and International Order |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-754637-6 |pages=94–118 |chapter=The Stagnation of OPEC |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197546376.001.0001 |chapter-url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780197546376.001.0001/oso-9780197546376-chapter-4}}</ref> 

The formation of OPEC marked a turning point toward [[Nationalization of oil supplies|national sovereignty over natural resources]]. OPEC decisions have come to play a prominent role in the global oil market and in [[Petroleum politics|international relations]]. Economists have characterized OPEC as a textbook example of a [[cartel]]<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = LeClair
 |first1               = Mark S.
 |date                 = 8 July 2016
 |orig-date            = 2000
 |chapter              = The History and Evlauation of Significant commodity Cartels
 |title                = International Commodity Markets and the Role of Cartels
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=hW6lDAAAQBAJ
 |edition              = reprint
 |publication-place    = Abingdon
 |publisher            = Routledge
 |page                 = 81
 |isbn                 = 978-1-315-50088-1
 |access-date          = 11 June 2023
 |quote                = OPEC, the most notorious of the modern cartels, functioned effectively for only thirteen years.
}} 
</ref>
(a group whose members cooperate to reduce [[Competition (economics)|market competition]]) but one whose consultations may be protected by the doctrine of [[state immunity]] under international law.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Terhechte
 |first1               = Jörg Philipp
 |author-link1         = Jörg Philipp Terhechte
 |editor-last1         = Herrmann
 |editor-first1        = Christoph
 |editor-last2         = Terhechte
 |editor-first2        = Jörg Philipp
 |editor-link2         = Jörg Philipp Terhechte
 |date                 = 1 December 2009
 |chapter              = Applying European Competition Law to International Organizations: The Case of OPEC
 |title                = European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2010 
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=ugnfC6oFH2YC
 |publication-place    = Heidelberg
 |publisher            = Springer Science & Business Media
 |page                 = 195
 |isbn                 = 978-3-540-78883-6
 |access-date          = 11 June 2023
 |quote                = [...] the question whether OPEC's activities, those of its member states and those of the state-owned enterprises are protected by the principle of State Immunity is to be answered in accordance with the preconditions set by the UN Convention as an expression of common principles of International law. [...] The crucial question [...] in terms of International law is: 'Is OPEC engaged in commercial activities or not?'
}} 
</ref>

{{As of|2018|June|alt=Current OPEC members are |url=http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/25.htm|post=}} Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Qatar are former OPEC members.<ref>{{cite web |title=OPEC: Member Countries |url= https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/25.htm |website=opec.org |access-date= 22 April 2020}}</ref> A larger group called '''OPEC+''', consisting of OPEC members plus other oil-producing countries, formed in late 2016 to exert more control on the global crude oil market.<ref name="ope2">{{Cite magazine|last= Cohen |first= Ariel|author-link=Ariel Cohen|title=OPEC Is Dead, Long Live OPEC+ |url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2018/06/29/opec-is-dead-long-live-opec/ |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190802092849/https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2018/06/29/opec-is-dead-long-live-opec/ |archive-date=2 August 2019 |access-date=2 August 2019 |magazine=[[Forbes]] | quote = The deal represents the latest successful policy effort by the 24 member supercartel, informally referred to as the 'Vienna Group' or 'OPEC+,' to put their thumb on the scale of global oil markets. And it's a huge thumb indeed. [...] OPEC's 14 members control 35 percent of global oil supplies and 82 percent of proven reserves. With the addition of the 10 Non-OPEC nations, notable among them Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan, those shares increase to 55 percent and 90 percent respectively. This affords OPEC+ a level of influence over the world economy never seen before.}}
</ref> Canada, Egypt, Norway, and Oman are observer states.