Letter from Vienna: OPEC at 65

Following its founding in September 1960, OPEC has become a key player in the global energy sector and a vital source of market stability

Sixty-five years ago, visionary leaders from five developing nations—namely Abdullah al-Tariki of Saudi Arabia, Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo of Venezuela, Fuad Rouhani of Iran, Tala’at al-Shaibani of Iraq, and Ahmed Sayed Omar of Kuwait—founded OPEC at the historic Baghdad Conference from 10–14 September 1960. With the benefit of hindsight, some might view the foundation of OPEC as inevitable, but that was not the case. The organisation’s founder members each arrived in Baghdad with different objectives, expectations and priorities, yet they all recognised that a core set of common interests outweighed any differences. Back then, the economies of these developing countries were centred around oi