- Oil prices have increased up to 2% hitting a five-month high on the expectations that global supplies would tighten due to escalation of the civil war in Libya,OPEC-led cuts and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.
- Earlier,to increase the oil price,the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia had pledged to withhold around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of supply from the start of this year.However,the latest increase in oil price was received from an escalation of fighting in Libya which is threatening further supply disruption.
- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) is an intergovernmental organisation of 14 nations,founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela) and headquartered since 1965 in Vienna,Austria.
- The current OPEC members are the following: (a)Algeria (b)Angola, (c)Ecuador (d)Equatorial Guinea (e)Gabon (f)Iran (g)Iraq (h)Kuwait, (I)Libya (j)Nigeria (k)the Republic of the Congo (l)Saudi Arabia (j)United Arab Emirates and (k)Venezuela.Indonesia and Qatar are former members.
- OPEC’s objective is to coordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries,in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers and an efficient,economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry.
