OPEC –The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent

intergovernmental organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960,

by

1) Iran.
2) Iraq.
3) Kuwait.
4) Saudi Arabia and
5) Venezuela.

OPEC had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in the first five years of its existence. This
was moved to Vienna, Austria, on September 1, 1965.

These five Founding Member countries were later joined by:

1) Qatar (1961)
2) Indonesia (1962)
3) Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (1962)
4) The United Arab Emirates (1967)
5) Algeria (1969)
6) Nigeria (1971)
7) Ecuador (1973)
8) Gabon (1975) and
9) Angola (2007).

From December 1992 until October 2007, Ecuador suspended its membership.
Gabon terminated its membership in 1995.
Indonesia suspended its membership effective January 2009.

Currently, OPEC has a total of 12 Member Countries.

The daily Crude oil production (2009) of OPEC is given in Table 1.
Table – 1
OPEC Crude oil Production
(Million b/d)
Saudi Arabia 9.713
Iran 4.216
UAE 2.599
Iraq 2.482
Kuwait 2.481
Venezuela 2.437
Nigeria 2.061
Algeria 1.811
Angola 1.784
Libya 1.652
Qatar 1.345
Ecuador .495
Total 33.076
Production

Note: b/d (barrels per day)

Classifying OPEC on the basis of oil production:

a) Above 1 million barrels/day.

Table – 2.1

OPEC Crude oil Production

(million b/d)2009
Saudi Arabia 9.713
Iran 4.216
Venezuela 2.437
Iraq 2.482
Kuwait 2.481
UAE 2.599
Nigeria 2.061
Angola 1.784
Libya 1.652
Algeria 1.811
Qatar 1.345
 b) Below 0.5 Million barrels/day.
Table – 2.2

OPEC Crude oil Production

(million b/d)2009
Ecuador .495

Crude oil reserves of OPEC.

Table - 3
OPEC Crude oil
Reserves
(billion
barrels)2009
Saudi Arabia 264.59
Venezuela 211.17
Iran 137.01
Iraq 115.00
Kuwait 101.50
UAE 97.80
Libya 46.42
Nigeria 37.20
Qatar 25.38
Algeria 12.20
Angola 9.50
Ecuador 6.51
Total Reserves 1064.28
According to estimates (2009), more than three-quarters of the world's
proven oil reserves are located in OPEC Member Countries, with the bulk of
OPEC oil reserves in the Middle East, amounting to 70% of the OPEC total.
OPEC's proven oil reserves currently stand at well above 1000 billion barrels.

World’s Total Crude oil Production (2009) – 79.85 million b/d

1) Opec Crude oil production – 33.07 million b/d (41.4%)

2) Non- OPEC Crude oil production - 46.78 million b/d (58.6%)

Exports of – Crude oil and Natural gas of OPEC Countries (2009).

OPEC Crude oil Natural Gas

Exports Exports
(million b/d) (Billion cu. m.)
Saudi 6.268 -
Arabia
Iran 2.232 5.67
Nigeria 2.160 15.99
UAE 1.953 15.21
Iraq 1.906 -
Angola 1.770 -
Venezuela 1.608 -
Kuwait 1.348 -
Libya 1.170 9.89
Algeria .747 52.67
Qatar .647 68.19
 Ecuador .329 -
Total 22.138 167.62

Objectives of OPEC

 OPEC’s principal aim is the coordination and unification of the petroleum policies of
Member Countries and the determination of the best means for safeguarding their
interest, individually and collectively.
 To seek ways and means of ensuring the stabilization of prices in international oil
markets, with a view to eliminate harmful and unnecessary fluctuation.
 To provide an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations;
and a fair return on capital to those investing in the petroleum industry.
 Securing a steady income for producing nations: Due regard shall be given at all
times to the interests of the producing nations and to the necessity of securing a
steady income to the producing countries
Natural gas – Production and Reserves of OPEC

Table – 4.1 Showing Production of Natural gas

OPEC Production of
Natural Gas
(Billion cu. m.)
Iran 175.74
Qatar 89.30
Algeria 81.43
Saudi Arabia 78.45
UAE 48.84
Nigeria 23.21
Venezuela 18.43
Libya 15.90
Kuwait 11.49
Iraq 1.15
Angola 0.69
Ecuador 0.30
Note: cu. m. (cubic meters)

Table – 4.2 Showing Natural gas

reserves

OPEC Natural gas

Reserves
(Billion cu. m.)
Iran 29,610
Qatar 25,366
Saudi 7,920
Arabia
UAE 6,091
 Nigeria 5,292
Venezuela 5,064.90
Algeria 4,504
Iraq 3,170
Kuwait 1,784
Libya 1,549
Angola 310
Ecuador 8