The organization that coordinates petroleum export policies among major oil-producing nations is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC.
OPEC was founded at a conference in Baghdad on September 14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Its creation gave oil-exporting governments a forum to consult on production, prices, and relations with the large international oil companies that then dominated the petroleum industry.
OPEC’s members coordinate broad oil-market policies, including production targets and output adjustments, although individual governments do not always follow agreed limits. The organization’s influence became especially visible during the 1973 oil crisis, when production cuts and an embargo by Arab oil exporters contributed to a dramatic rise in energy prices.
OPEC is not the same as OPEC+, a broader cooperation framework that includes non-OPEC producers such as Russia. Nor is it a financial or trade institution: the WTO handles global trade rules, the IMF supports monetary and financial stability, and the World Bank focuses on development finance.