The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, is a 13-nation organization that was founded by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait,

Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela back in 1960.

These 13 nations still work together today, through OPEC, to, in their words, quote,

coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization

of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic, and regular supply of petroleum

to consumers, a steady income to producers, and fair return on capital for those investing

in the petroleum industry."

All of which sounds pretty good, but what this means in practice is that because these

13 nations between them account for around 44% of the world's global oil production,

and around 80% of the world's proven oil reserves, they have a great deal of influence over oil pricing, oil production

numbers, strategic issues like who gets how much oil, and when, to some degree anyway,

and economic issues tied to oil, which, if we allow for a step or two between connected

industries, touches on just about everything in the modern economy.

The 13 countries that are part of OPEC today, as of January 2020, are Algeria, Angola,

Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo,

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

Saudi Arabia is the first among equals leader of this group, while Ecuador, Indonesia, and

Qatar were previously members but have since left the organization. Before OPEC was founded,

the main managerial body for worldwide petroleum production

and distribution was a collection of seven transnational petroleum companies, often referred to

as the Seven Sisters, the consortium for Iran, and or the supermajors, depending on the

time period in question. But at all stages, it was a cartel

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