About OPEC

• The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a group consisting of 13 of the world’s major oil-exporting nations.
• Countries that belong to OPEC include Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela (the five founders), plus the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
• OPEC was founded in 1960 to coordinate the petroleum policies of its members and to provide member states with technical and economic aid. 
• OPEC is used to work as a cartel and fix prices in a favourable band. It could bring down prices by increasing oil production and raise prices by cutting production.

OPEC Plus

• The 2014 oil crisis, which was accentuated by oversupply of crude, brought down prices below $30 a barrel. Since then, OPEC has been working with non-OPEC countries like Russia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Sudan and South Sudan to fix the global prices and supply.
• Known as the “OPEC Plus” arrangement, this alliance kept production lower and pumped up the prices.
• Together, these nations produce about 40% of the entire world’s crude oil.

Why in News?

• The 6th High-Level Meeting of the India-OPEC Energy Dialogue took place at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, Austria
• The Meeting focused on key issues related to oil and energy markets with a specific emphasis on ensuring availability, affordability and sustainability, which are necessary in ensuring the stability of energy markets. 

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1976723