ORGANIZATION OF THE PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES (OPEC)

About:

• OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization of 15 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.
  
  
• Origin: OPEC was founded in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq by five countries namely Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
  
  
• Present member countries: 15 (6 in the Middle East (Western Asia), 7 in Africa, and 2 in South America).
  
  
• HQ: Vienna, Austria.
  
  

Qatar Quitting OPEC:

• Qatar has been a member of OPEC since 1961.
  
  
• Qatar has stated that it wants to focus more on gas production, which is its core strength, instead of oil.
  • In September, Qatar announced its plans to boost gas production to 110 million tonnes a year by 2024.
    
    
  • Its oil production is around 6,00,000 barrels a day, making it the world’s 17th largest producer of crude. It also only holds around 2% of the world’s global oil reserves.
    
    
  
  
  
• Some analysts saw Qatar’s withdrawal as a “political decision to oppose Saudi Arabia”, which alongside the U.S. and Russia is the biggest producer in OPEC. Qatar is under a boycott by former neighbouring allies, including Saudi Arabia for 18 months.