In 1960, in order to coordinate the actions of the states involved in the export of hydrocarbons, an appropriate organization was established.
The spread of influence is gradualcharacter, but now any politician or the head of the enterprise connected with oil processing and use of products of its processing, on itself should feel activity of the given organization in a life of any country. OPEC enlarges the list of its participants constantly, involving in the process all any significant states. In addition, contradictions of economic and political nature sometimes lead to disagreements in the organization, which also affects the pricing of purchased and processed hydrocarbons.
At the moment the composition of the participants coverspractically the entire globe, and to know what OPEC is, will not be superfluous. Some states are prospering, others, on the contrary, are in stagnation due to high level of corruption, a large external debt, increased military expenditures and a number of other reasons. One can look at what countries are part of OPEC, and consider the dynamics of development:
- 1960s: unification of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Later, they joined Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, the United Arab Emirates and Algeria.
- 1970s: the composition increased at the expense of Nigeria, Ecuador and Gabon.
- 1990's: from the organization there was an exit of Gabon, participation of Ecuador was suspended. In 1998, the Russian Federation received observer status.
- 2000s:since 2007, the accession of Angola and since 2009, the temporary suspension of Indonesia's membership, the return to Ecuador. In addition, in 2008, Russian representatives announced their readiness to participate in the activities of the organization as a permanent observer.
The decline in consumption in the 1980shydrocarbon energy carriers led to a sharp decline in the incomes of the member countries of the organization, however, despite everything, it continued to strengthen its positions. In spite of everything, such OPEC suits, and although Britain, Mexico, Norway and Oman can not be drawn into its orbit, there is a share of influence on their oilfields.
In the current century, the ongoing crisisthe processes in the economy and the decline in production had to affect the decline in the cost of crude oil, but in fact this does not happen because of the artificial reduction in the amount of extracted resources.
What is OPEC today?This is a powerful intergovernmental association, on whose decisions the state of the world economy depends. It has an official registration with the UN and relations with the boards on economics and social issues. At least twice a year at the level of energy ministers of the participating countries, meetings are held to assess the global hydrocarbon market and forecast its development.
