The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) is a multi-governmental organization headquartered in
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
which coordinates energy policies among oil-producing Arab nations. OAPEC's primary objective is safeguarding the cooperation of numerous members in various aspects of economic activity within the
oil industry
The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...
as well as maintaining strong relations among themselves; to provide legitimate means to preserve the members' individual and collective efforts within the industry; unite on-going efforts for the procurement of oil; provide access to consumer markets on fair and reasonable terms; and provide conditions, adequate capital, and experience of investors in the oil industry.
History
![OAPEC Members](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/OAPEC_Members.png)
On 9 January 1968, three of the then–most conservative Arab oil states –
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
,
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
, and
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
– agreed at a conference in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, Lebanon to found the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, aiming to separate the production and sale of oil from politics in the wake of the halfhearted
1967 oil embargo
The 1967 Oil Embargo began on June 6, 1967, the second day of the Six-Day War, with a joint Arab decision to deter any countries from supporting Israel militarily. Several Middle Eastern countries eventually limited their oil shipments, some emba ...
in response to the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
. Such use of the economic weapon of oil embargo in the struggle against Israel had been regularly proposed at Arab Petroleum Congresses, but it took the Six-Day War for the embargo to happen. However, Saudi Arabia's oil production was up by 9% that year, and the main embargo lasted only ten days and was completely ended by the
Khartoum Conference.
OAPEC was originally intended to be a conservative Arab political organization which, by restricting membership to countries whose main export was oil, would exclude governments seen as radical – such as those of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
Algeria
)
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. This organizational exclusivity was bolstered by an additional rule in the organization's charter requiring the three founders' approval of all new members. The original aim was to control the economic weapon of potential oil embargo and prevent its use caused by popular emotion. Iraq initially declined to join, preferring to work under the umbrella of the
Arab League
The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
, considering OAPEC too conservative. Equally the three founders considered Iraq too radical to be desirable as a member. However, by early 1972, the criterion for admission had changed to oil being a significant source of revenue (rather than the principal source) of a prospective member nation; and Algeria, Iraq, Syria and Egypt had been admitted. Consequently, OAPEC became a much more activist organization, contrary to the original intention.
The
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
was a turning point for the organization. In October of that year, the forces of Egypt and Syria attempted to overwhelm the state of Israel in an offensive later known as the
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
. On 16 October, ten days after the war's start, Kuwait hosted separate meetings of both OAPEC and the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
members of
OPEC
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...
, including Iran. OAPEC resolved to cut oil production by 5% monthly "until the Israeli forces are completely evacuated from all the Arab territories occupied in the June 1967 war". The embargo would last for some five months before it was lifted in March 1974 after negotiations at the Washington Oil Summit. The embargo's after-effects would linger through the rest of the decade and beyond. For the oil-exporting countries, the embargo was the first experience of leveraging their collective production for political gains. A number of the member nations would use this sense of control to renegotiate the contracts they had made with the companies that had discovered and exploited their resources. The vastly increased revenues would prove addictive, and a unified OAPEC oil embargo was never again possible.
In 1979, Egypt was expelled from OAPEC for signing the
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retrea ...
, although it was readmitted a decade later.
In 1982, the Arab League's Arab Petroleum Congress (founded in 1959) merged into OAPEC's Arab Energy Conference (founded in 1979), which has continued to meet periodically through at least 2014.
OAPEC is regarded as a regional, specialized
international organization
An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states an ...
focusing on organizing cooperation in oil development, collective projects, and regional integration.
Organizational structure
OAPEC consists of the Council of Ministers that holds the supreme authority over the Executive Bureau, the General Secretariat, and the Judicial Tribunal. The Council of Ministers is formed by each member state's minister of petroleum and they work together to construct general policy and ensure the organization's goals and actions are being achieved and implemented. The Executive Bureau assists the Council of Ministers by meet at least three times a year to review the budget, approve staff regulations, and develops an agenda for the Council of Ministers depending on their analyses of the organizations activities. One senior official from each member state serves on the Executive Bureau. The General Secretariat consists of the Secretary General's Office, as well as four departments: Finance and Administrative Affairs; Information and Library; Economics; and Technical Affairs. The Economics Department and the Technical Affairs Department form the Arab Center for Energy Studies that was established in 1983. The Judicial Tribunal mitigates disputes between member states; interpretations of the OAPEC Agreement; disputes with a petroleum company operating in its member states' territory, and anything else that falls into OAPEC's jurisdiction or that the Council of Ministers submits to the tribunal. The Judicial Tribunal must unevenly consist of at least seven and no more than eleven judges from Arab countries. The tribunal's judgments are final and binding, and will be enforceable within the territories of residing members.
Member countries
As of December 2020, OAPEC has 11 members countries, 6 of which are also
OPEC
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...
members:
[
]
*
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
*
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
*
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
*
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
*
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
*
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
*
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
*
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
*
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
*
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
*
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
See also
*
List of countries by oil production
This is a list of countries by oil production (i.e., petroleum production), as compiled from the U.S. Energy Information Administration database for calendar year 2021, tabulating all countries on a comparable best-estimate basis. Compared wi ...
*
Arab lobby in the United States
The Arab lobby in the United States is a collection of formal and informal groups and professional lobbyists paid directly by Arab governments or Arab citizens in the United States that lobby the public and government of the United States on beha ...
Footnotes
External links
OAPECORG.ORGwebsite
OPECwebsite
by
Michael T. Klare
Michael T. Klare is a Five Colleges (Massachusetts), Five Colleges professor of Peace and World Security Studies, whose department is located at Hampshire College (Amherst, Massachusetts, USA), defense correspondent of ''The Nation'' magazine an ...
, ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', 14 July 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries
Foreign relations of Algeria
Foreign relations of Bahrain
Foreign relations of Egypt
Foreign relations of Iraq
Foreign relations of Kuwait
Foreign relations of Libya
Foreign relations of Qatar
Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia
Foreign relations of Syria
Foreign relations of Tunisia
Foreign relations of the United Arab Emirates
International energy organizations
Petroleum organizations
Petroleum politics
Intergovernmental organizations