VIENNA 14 Sep 2010 OPEC marks 50 years since its founding

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries turns 50 on 14 Sep in 2010. OPEC was established at the Baghdad Conference on 10-14 Sep 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, then formally constituted in Jan 1961. OPEC is battered by the global recession and now has oil-producing rivals, but it has suffered and overcome other bad times in its 50 years. The special year could be a time for large gestures to restore its fortunes and clout. There is again talk of dropping the US dollar for oil trades.

Several British newspapers reported in Oct 2009 that finance ministers and central bankers from Arab Gulf states -- Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar -- have been holding secret meetings in Hong Kong with counterparts from China, Russia, Japan and Brazil to end the use of the dollar for oil trades. The Independent notes that they are looking to peg oil trades to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a future unified Arab currency.

The organization was set up to gain greater control over oil prices by coordinating production and export policies. Each member retains ultimate control over its own policy. Together, OPEC members own about two-thirds of the world’s proven petroleum reserves and account for two-fifths of world oil production.

The five founding members were later joined by nine other oil producing countries, but several have dropped out to take their own production path. As of 2009, OPEC has 12 members: the original five, plus United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Angola and Ecuador. Germanico Pinto, Minister of Mines & Petroleum of Ecuador is the 2010 president of the organization.

OPEC set up a headquarters in Geneva, moving to Vienna in 1965. The organization moved to new headquarters in Vienna's First District in late 2009.

RELATED READING:

OPEC history
http://www.opec.org/aboutus/history/history.htm

Saudis deny secret plan to ditch dollar in oil trades (Los Angeles Times 6 Oct 2009)
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/10/are-arab-countries-ditching-the-dollar-for-counting-oil-profits.html