The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties is a permanent international body, formed in Baghdad, Iraq, in September 1960, that plans and orchestrates the petroleum policies of its members.
In its own words, OPEC's mission is "to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of 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 to those investing in the petroleum industry."
OPEC oil ministers meet on a regular basis to review world oil markets and set crude supply levels.
OPEC currently has 13 members, but Indonesia will leave at the end of 2009 as it is no longer a net exporter, and the membership will drop back to 12.
The five founding members Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela were joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia and Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967); Algeria (1969) and Nigeria (1971).
Ecuador and Gabon both joined in the mid-1970s and left in 1992 and 1994 respectively over issues with membership fees and crude oil production quotas.
Ecuador, however, rejoined in November 2007 during the organization's third-ever summit, held in the Saudi capital Riyadh. The previous summits were held in Algiers in 1975 and Caracas in 2000. Angola joined in January 2007.
Both Angola and Ecuador were incorporated into OPEC's crude output quota system in January 2008, although the organization currently prefers the terms "production allocation" and "production target" to "quota" and "ceiling."
Iraq, struggling to rebuild its oil industry after years of United Nations sanctions followed by a US-led war, does not participate in output agreements.
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