OPEC was founded in 1960.
The organization was established at the Baghdad Conference, held from September 10 to 14, 1960. Its five original members were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. They created OPEC partly to coordinate petroleum policies and strengthen the bargaining position of oil-producing countries.
The organization initially operated with a small membership, but its influence grew as petroleum became central to transport, electricity, manufacturing, and international trade. OPEC's decisions concern production policy, although its members do not always agree and the organization does not control every oil-producing country.
A common mix-up is confusing OPEC's founding with the 1973 oil crisis. The crisis occurred more than a decade later, when Arab oil producers imposed an embargo on countries supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. OPEC's creation was an earlier institutional development.