According to the mission statement of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), their primary goal is “to 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 a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.”
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization originally founded by Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia in 1960 so they could monitor global oil process and give out information regarding the international oil market. Today, OPEC is comprised of fourteen nations coming from the Middle East, Africa and South America – Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
