Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries
OPEC
Purpose of OPEC
• The mission of the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 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 Members
• Founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the
signing of an agreement in September
1960 by five countries namely Islamic
Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia and Venezuela. They were to
become the Founder Members of the
Organization.
Map of Founder Members
OPEC Members
• These countries were later joined by Qatar (1961),
Indonesia (1962), Socialist People’s Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967),
Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon
(1975) and Angola (2007).
• From December 1992 until October 2007, Ecuador
suspended its membership. Gabon terminated its
membership in 1995. Indonesia suspended its
membership effective January 2009.
• Currently, the Organization has a total of 12 Member
Countries.
Map of ALL Member Countries
How Much is Left?
• According to current estimates, more than threequarters of the world's proven oil reserves are
located in OPEC Member Countries, with the
bulk of OPEC oil reserves in the Middle East,
amounting to 70% of the OPEC total.
• OPEC Member Countries have made significant
additions to their oil reserves in recent years, for
example, by adopting best practices in the
industry. As a result, OPEC's proven oil reserves
currently stand at well above 1000 billion
barrels.
• During the period 2000-2009, OPEC Member
Countries added 242 billion barrels to their total
oil reserves, substantially more than the reserve
additions made by other crude oil producers.
Why Use Oil?
• Refining is the complex series of processes that
manufactures finished petroleum products out of
crude oil. While refining begins as simple
distillation (by heating and separating), refiners
must use more sophisticated additional
processes and equipment in order to produce
the mix of products that the market demands:
– Fuel oil, used to power large ocean-going ships
– Jet fuel, kerosene, home heating oil and diesel fuel
– Gasoline
Top Oil Consumers
Rank
Consumers
Total Oil Consumption
1.
United States
20.5
2.
China
6.5
3.
Japan
5.4
4.
Germany
2.6
5.
Russia
2.6
6.
India
2.3
7.
Canada
2.3
8.
Brazil
2.2
9.
South Korea
2.1
10.
France
2.0
(millions of barrels per day)
Includes all countries that consumed more than 2 million barrels per day in 2004.
Source: Energy Information Administration (EIA). www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/ .
Top Oil Consumers
Information in this
presentation from:
•OPEC www.opec.org
•University of Delaware Sea Grant ©2004
University of Delaware
•Energy Information Administration (EIA).