Interesting Facts
With its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, it is estimated that OPEC has 75% of the world reserves and meets 40% of the world's demand for oil. Crude reserves for OPEC are estimated at 800 billion barrels of oil - sufficient to last 80 years!

Did you know that there are currently twelve countries that make up OPEC?

In December 2006, the Angolan government approved the decision for Angola (1.4 MM BD producer) to join OPEC as a full member. Former OPEC member Ecuador (540 kBD) and Sudan (expected to soon produce 600 kBD) were also considering joining OPEC. At the 14-Dec-06 OPEC meeting, Angola was unanimously admitted into OPEC as the 12th full member of the organization - effective 01-Jan-07. Angola became the first new member in 30 years.

Created in September 1960, the original 5 OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) members were:
Saudi Arabia - 1960
Iran - 1960
Iraq - 1960
Venezuela - 1960
Kuwait - 1960
The additional members (with their year of membership entry into OPEC) include:
Qatar - 1961
Libya - 1962
UAE - 1967
Indonesia - 1962
Algeria - 1969
Nigeria - 1971
After being a member for nearly 20 years, Gabon ended its membership with OPEC in the early 1990s.
Gabon 1975 - 1994
Angola becomes the first new member in 30 years
Angola - January 2007
First oil was discovered in Angola in 1955 and the country is now producing about 1.67 MM BD of oil. For the time being Angola remains outside of the quota system that OPEC uses to manage production. It is speculated that Angola will not be issued a production quota until output in the country reaches 2 MM BD (which is expected sometime in 2008).
Ecuador 1973 - 1992
Originally admitted in 1973, Ecuador's OPEC membership was suspended in 1992. Ecuador rejoined in November 2007 after a 15 year absence. Ecuador is OPEC's smallest producer, with a production quota of 520 kBD.
April 2008
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