OPEC+ - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
News: OPEC+
agrees to keep output levels unchanged
What's in the news?
● Major
oil-producing countries led by Saudi
Arabia and Russia agreed on December 4 to maintain their current output
levels in a climate of uncertainty and ahead of fresh sanctions against Moscow
coming into force next week.
Key takeaways:
● The
representatives of the thirteen members of the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) led by
Riyadh, and their 10 allies headed by Moscow, decided to stick to their
course agreed in October of a production cut of two million barrels per day
until the end of 2023.
● OPEC+
described its October decision to cut as one "which was purely driven by
market considerations", adding that it had been "the necessary and
the right course of action towards stabilizing global oil markets", a
statement said.
● The
next OPEC+ ministerial meeting is scheduled for 4 June 2023.
● But
the alliance said it was ready to "meet at any time and take immediate
additional measures" to address market developments and support the oil
market if necessary.
OPEC:
● The
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental organization.
● It
was created at the Baghdad Conference
held in Iraq in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
● It
initially had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland which was then moved to Vienna, Austria in 1965.
● It
accounts for an estimated 44 percent of global oil production and 81.5 percent
of the world’s “proven” oil reserves.
● Members
- Currently, the Organization has a total of 13 Member Countries - Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,
and Venezuela.
Objectives:
● Coordinate
and unify petroleum policies among member countries.
● In
order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers.
● The
efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations.
● A
fair return on capital to those investing in the industry.
OPEC+:
● The
non-OPEC countries which export crude oil along with the 14 OPECs are termed as
OPEC plus countries.
● OPEC
plus countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia,
Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan.
● Saudi
and Russia, both have been at the heart of a three-year alliance of oil
producers known as OPEC Plus, which now includes 11 OPEC members and 10 non-OPEC nations that aims to shore up oil
prices with production cuts.