It is an organization based in Vienna. It was founded in Baghdad (Iraq) on September 14, 1960 by previous agreements established at the first Arab Oil Congress held in Cairo (Egypt), at the initiative of the Government of Venezuela chaired by Romulo Betancourt, the then Venezuelan Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, Abdullah al-Tariki.

OPEC controls approximately 43 percent of the world oil production and 81 percent of oil reserves. Its dominance in crude oil exports, for the third quarter of 2016 was around 34.9 % .3 In addition, it concentrates all of the world's surplus oil production capacity, which in turn makes OPEC the central bank of the oil market.

It is an organization recognized since November 6, 1962 by the United Nations (UN), thanks to resolution number 6,363. OPEC was based in Geneva (Switzerland) between 1960 and 1965, and later it moved its headquarters to Vienna, thanks to the facilities granted by the Austrian government.

The OPEC Statutes establish as its objective is to coordinate and unify the oil policies among the member countries, in order to guarantee fair and stable prices for oil producers, the efficient, economic and regular supply of oil to consuming countries and fair return on investor capital.

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