The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) celebrates its 60th anniversary on Monday. It expects to maintain a stabilizer role in the global oil market for at least six decades.
The Secretary-General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Mohammed Barkindo, Barkindo said this in his congratulatory speech published on the Secretariat's website, Report says, citing TASS.
"Looking to the future, OPEC is ready for the new challenges that we will face in the next 60 years of our history. Our interest lies in a balanced and stable oil market for the benefit of both producers and consumers," he said.
According to him, the organization is successfully coping with this mission by agreeing on the regulation of oil production, known as OPEC +, which has 23 countries.
OPEC was established in September 1960 at an oil conference in Baghdad by five States-Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Later, other countries joined them. As of March 2020, OPEC consists of 13 countries: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Its headquarters are located in Vienna. OPEC accounts for a third of the world's oil production.