Baku, Azerbaijan, May 25
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Equatorial Guinea became a new member of OPEC during the 172nd meeting of the cartel being held May 25 in Vienna, Austria.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental organization created at the Baghdad Conference on 10–14 September 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The five founding members were later joined by Qatar, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Gabon and Angola.
In accordance with its statute, the mission of OPEC is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.
The statute also stipulates that any country with a substantial net export of crude petroleum, which has fundamentally similar interests to those of member countries, may become a full member of the organization, if accepted by a majority of three-fourths of full members, including the concurring votes of all founder members.
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