The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental organization, created in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The five Pounding Members were later joined by nine other Members: Qatar (1961); Indonesia (1962)—which suspended its membership from January 2009; Libya (1962); United Arab Emirates (1967); Algeria (1969); Nigeria (1971); Ecuador (1973)—suspended its membership from December 1992- October 2007; Angola (2007) and Gabon (1975-1994). Until 1965, OPEC had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, which was then Shifted to Vienna, Austria.
More than three-quarters 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 72 per cent of the OPEC total. The objective of the OPEC is to coordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; to ensure the stabilisation
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