30th Anniversary of OPEC
Since its creation in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq, at the initiative of several countries and following a decision by oil companies – which owned the right to exploit oil resources – to reduce the price of crude oil for export (and therefore the income of the countries holding these resources), OPEC continues, until today, the date of the celebration of its 30th anniversary, to ensure the coordination of the oil policies of its members in order to safeguard their interests, while avoiding price fluctuations that are too significant and damaging to the international community.
OPEC is registered with the UN and therefore adheres to the United Nations Charter. After the nationalization of oil exploitation, OPEC fixed the selling prices of crude oil between 1970 and the mid-1980s. Then these prices were free and depended on supply and demand on the world market.
Today, OPEC meets in regular session twice a year, sets a price target and decides whether to adjust production (reduction or increase) based on market conditions. This was the case in August this year when, in Vienna, the oil ministers of the member countries unanimously came out with a decision to increase crude oil production in order to compensate for the effects of the defection of Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil on the oil market.
Faced with an oil cartel strategy that is refined from year to year, major oil-consuming countries are trying to diversify their supplies as well as better control their energy expenditure, or even find alternative energies or even move towards offshore oil extraction which is only profitable beyond a high threshold of crude prices.
OPEC is registered with the UN and therefore adheres to the United Nations Charter. After the nationalization of oil exploitation, OPEC fixed the selling prices of crude oil between 1970 and the mid-1980s. Then these prices were free and depended on supply and demand on the world market.
Today, OPEC meets in regular session twice a year, sets a price target and decides whether to adjust production (reduction or increase) based on market conditions. This was the case in August this year when, in Vienna, the oil ministers of the member countries unanimously came out with a decision to increase crude oil production in order to compensate for the effects of the defection of Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil on the oil market.
Faced with an oil cartel strategy that is refined from year to year, major oil-consuming countries are trying to diversify their supplies as well as better control their energy expenditure, or even find alternative energies or even move towards offshore oil extraction which is only profitable beyond a high threshold of crude prices.