Organization of the Arab Oil Exporting Countries
The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries ( English Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries , OAPEC, the Arab منظمة الدول العربية المصدرة للنفط, DMG Munaẓẓamat ad-duwal al-ʿarabiyya al-muṣaddira li-n-nafṭ ) now has 11 members. Its members include the four countries with the largest oil reserves in the world, Saudi Arabia , Iraq , Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates , as well as Egypt , Algeria , Bahrain , Qatar , Libya , Syria and Tunisia . OAPEC is based in Kuwait City .
history
The OAPEC was founded on January 9, 1968 in Beirut, the founding members were: Kuwait, Libya and Saudi Arabia. The aim of this alliance was to coordinate the Arab oil industry and create a counterpart to OPEC , in which non-Arab states, including Iran , Gabon , Indonesia and Venezuela, are or were members.
In the oil crisis in 1973, the OAPEC played a leading role. The oil ministers of the Arab states met in the first days of the Yom Kippur War and decided to boycott the West. The oil ministers of the Arab states (OAPEC), with the exception of Libya, declared the oil embargo against the USA to be over on March 18, 1974. Libya followed on December 31, 1974.
The organization decided on April 17, 1979 to exclude Egypt from the organization on the occasion of the peace treaty with Israel . In 1989, Egypt was resumed.
Overall, the OAPEC controls around 50 percent of the world's oil reserves and is now essentially a technical organization for intra-Arab cooperation in the oil and gas sector. However, while the overwhelming majority of the production comes from member states of the OPEC, the OAPEC also offers small producers the possibility of coordination with their neighboring Arab states.
Egypt, Bahrain, Syria and Tunisia are affected. In contrast to the quota regulation of OPEC, this does not exist in the OAPEC. In view of the currently (2017) known oil reserves of these four above-mentioned countries, inclusion in OPEC would not be possible. Despite the low production volume, oil is still an important industry for these 4 countries.
Members
- Founding members 1968: Kuwait, Libya and Saudi Arabia
- Joined 1970: Algeria, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE
- Joined 1972: Iraq and Syria
- Joined 1973: Egypt (excluded 1979–1989)
- Entry 1982: Tunisia (membership suspended in 1986)
organs
- Council of Ministers
- Executive office
- office
- Arbitration board
Secretary General: Abdulaziz A. Al-Turki
Web links
- Database of literature on the social, political and economic situation in the organization of the Arab oil exporting countries
- Official website (in English)