Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an organization consisting twelve member countries which currently are: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. These countries have large deposits of crude oil which they can us domestically and export to other nations.

OPEC headquarters is, currently, in Vienna. Regular meetings among the oil ministers of Member Countries are held at the Vienna headquarters.

A brief history of OPEC, as contained on the organization's website states that the organization was created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10-14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The five Founding Members were later joined by nine other Members: Qatar; Indonesia; United Arab Emirates; Algeria; Nigeria; Ecuador; Angola and Gabon. Indonesia suspended its membership from January 2009, after it became a net importer of oil but stated it would likely return if it become a net exporter in the future. Gabon was only a member of OPEC between 1975 to 1994. Ecuador suspended its membership in December 1992 and returned back to the fold in October 2007.

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.

OPEC's objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry.

A summary of OPEC membership is contained below with the current status of the member countries.

As shown in the table above, there are 12 current member countries of the organization (OPEC)

Besides OPEC member countries, there are several other oil producing countries in the world.

Related websites:

• Oil-producing countries (Wikipedia)
• OPEC (website)