In its 174th Meeting last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) approved with immediate effect Congo’s request to join the Organization. The approval of OPEC to Congo’s request to join OPEC members brings the total number of OPEC members up to 15 members.
OPEC Members Share of the World Crude Oil Reserves
In May Last year, OPEC approved Equatorial Guinea’s request to join OPEC as well. The country was the newest member at that time and the smallest oil producing nation among the cartel’s members. As new applications are approved and more applications are submitted, the number of OPEC members is expected to go up in the near future, especially with Malaysia and Chad lining up to join the cartel.
Current OPEC Members
- Algeria
- Angola
- Congo
- Ecuador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gabon
- Iran
- Iraq
- Kuwait
- Libya
- Nigeria
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates
- Venezuela
OPEC Brief History
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
1st OPEC Conference, 10-14 September 1960, Baghdad, Iraq
The five Founding Members were later joined by ten other Members: Qatar (1961); Indonesia (1962) – suspended its membership in January 2009, reactivated it in January 2016, but decided to suspend it again in November 2016; Libya (1962); United Arab Emirates (1967); Algeria (1969); Nigeria (1971); Ecuador (1973) – suspended its membership in December 1992, but reactivated it in October 2007; Angola (2007); Gabon (1975) – terminated its membership in January 1995 but rejoined in July 2016; Equatorial Guinea (2017); and Congo (2018). 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.
