The Impact and Influence of OPEC on Global Trade

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The selected key concept of the week is OPEC: the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was formed on September 14, 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq and registered with the United Nations Secretariat on November 6, 1962 ( Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, 2013). OPEC defines themselves as “a permanent intergovernmental organization, currently consisting of 12 oil producing and exporting countries, spread across three continents America, Asia and Africa ( Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, 2013, p. 1). I am specifically interested in exploring the influence of OPEC on global trade and economies.
Key Term
The formation of OPEC in the 1960’s was motivated by complex, inter-dependent factors including the end of British colonization, the surge in the demand for oil based energy, and a desire for the member nations to benefit from – and control - the market price of “the most valuable commodity in the history of the world” (Myers & Lyford, N.D., p. 1): crude oil. Today, OPEC purports to have three primary objectives:
1. To co-ordinate and unify the petroleum policies of the Member Countries and to determine the best means for safeguarding their individual and collective interests;
2. To seek ways and means of ensuring the stabilization of prices in international oil markets, with a view to eliminating harmful and unnecessary fluctuations; and
3. To provide an efficient economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations and a fair return on capital to those investing in the petroleum industry ( Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, 2013).

Major Article Summary
In January 1975, the Journal of Business published a very interesting article titled “The Future of OPEC” in which th...

... middle of paper ...

...ries. (2013, November 14). About OPEC. Retrieved from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries: www.opec.org
Cairnsa, R. D., & Calfucura, E. (2012). OPEC: Market failure or power failure? Energy Policy, 50, 570-580. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.07.058
Dorraj, M. (1993). Will OPEC Survive? Arab Studies Quarterly, 19-33.
Dunstan, S. (2007). The Yom Kippur War: The Arab-Israeli War of 1973. New York: Osprey Publishing.
International Energy Agency. (2008). World Energy Outlook. Paris: IEA.
Mancke, R. (1975). The Future of OPEC. Journal of Business, 11-19.
Myers, J., & Lyford, M. (N.D.). Petroleum and Peak Oil. (pp. 1-109). University of Wyoming. Retrieved from http://www.uwyo.edu/smtc/_files/docs/projects/qr%20stem/cohort%204/symposium%201%20laramie%20june/myers/peak_oil.pdf
Satterlee, B. (2009). Cross Border Commerce. Roanoke: Synergistics Inc. .

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