Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

Under Article 7 of the statute, by holding a substantial net export of crude petroleum and interests fundamentally similar to those of the member countries, and then by being accepted on a majority of three-fourths of full members that has to include the concurring votes of all founder members. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela are those founders, which means each of the five can stop an admission on its own without needing anybody to agree. The statute also provides for associate membership, on terms the Conference sets case by case, for a country that does not qualify for full membership. Once admitted, a member votes on the same footing as the founders: one vote each, and unanimity for every decision of the Conference that is not procedural.

No. OPEC+ is shorthand for the countries taking part in the Declaration of Cooperation, agreed at Vienna on 10 December 2016 and placed on a standing footing by the Charter of Cooperation of 2 July 2019. It is a framework for output arrangements and consultation, and it creates no membership: a participating country outside the organisation holds no vote in the Conference and contributes no grade to the reference basket. Admission still runs through Article 7.

The embargo was declared by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, a separate body established at Beirut on 9 January 1968 by Kuwait, Libya and Saudi Arabia and seated in Kuwait. Its ministers agreed the production cuts and the embargo on 17 October 1973. The day before, six Gulf producers meeting at Kuwait City had raised their posted prices. The two organisations share members and are not the same list: OAPEC is Arab by its founding agreement.

Most often because the qualification in Article 7 has lapsed. Indonesia suspended its membership at the 171st Conference on 30 November 2016, by which time it was importing more crude than it exported. Qatar terminated on 1 January 2019 and Ecuador withdrew with effect from 1 January 2020. Departure is not always final: Gabon terminated in January 1995 and rejoined in July 2016, and Ecuador had already suspended once, in December 1992, before returning in October 2007.

A weighted average of the spot price of one named crude grade from each member country, introduced on 16 June 2005 and published daily by the Secretariat in Vienna. Saharan Blend, Djeno, Zafiro, Rabi Light, Iran Heavy, Basrah Medium, Kuwait Export, Es Sider, Bonny Light, Arab Light, Murban and Merey are the grades in it. The composition is amended when the roster moves, and the qualities inside it run from light and low in sulphur to dense and sour, which is why the basket and the traded benchmarks quoted beside it do not track each other exactly.

No. The statute gives it a Conference, a Board of Governors and a Secretariat, and no holding of any kind. Reserves and production belong to the member states and to the companies those states own.