OPEC — Oil history — energy & politics

Oil & Politics provides accessible and concise analysis on current and historical events about the intersection between oil, politics and power

Scott McKnight

All tagged OPEC

Calm before the Storm: The Global Oil Industry in the 1960s

Jan 10

Jan 10 Calm before the Storm: The Global Oil Industry in the 1960s

The international oil industry of the 1960s was a period of incredible growth—in production, reserves, demand and countless new oil-based consumer products. However, beneath this apparent stability, the domination of a handful of Western-based oil companies who, for decades essentially controlled how much oil would be produced and how it would be sold, was ceding to a more diverse—and more unstable—international oil order

The birth of OPEC: How the world’s oil-producing cartel was created

Jan 10

Jan 10 The birth of OPEC: How the world’s oil-producing cartel was created

OPEC, the club of some of the world’s largest oil exporters, was formed in 1960 by five countries—Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. These countries, despite their many differences, were united on the question of asserting greater control over their countries’ most important resource and preventing further price cuts. This piece analyzes the factors that facilitated its creation