The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) a permanent, inter-governmental organization was created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10-14, 1960, by five nations – Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Now, this cartel has 12 nations (6 from Middle East, 4 from Africa & 2 from Latin America).
Opec exported oil of 24 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2013 out of total worldwide oil export of 40 million bpd, which means Opec had 60 per cent market share in the export of oil.
