ORBIS

Alliance · Oil producers

OPEC

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

OPEC is a group of 11 oil-exporting countries that agree how much crude each will pump, to steer the price. Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela founded it in Baghdad in September 1960. Its members pumped 31% of the world's crude oil in 2025. The United Arab Emirates, its third-largest producer, left on May 1, 2026, after 59 years.

Updated October 2026 · Members from OPEC, oil output from the EIA

The entrance of OPEC's headquarters in Vienna, with the organization's full name in large letters on a glass canopy over the door
OPEC's headquarters in Vienna. Photo: C. Stadler/Bwag, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Members
11
The UAE left in May 2026
Founded
1960
In Baghdad, by 5 countries
Headquarters
Vienna
Austria, since 1965
Share of world oil
31%
26.2 million barrels a day, 2025
OPEC+
21 countries
OPEC plus Russia and 9 others

Which countries are in OPEC?

Eleven: Algeria, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. The big Western oil companies cut the price they paid producers twice, in February 1959 and August 1960. Five producers answered at a conference in Baghdad in September 1960. The idea came from two oil ministers, Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo of Venezuela and Abdullah Tariki of Saudi Arabia, who had met privately in Cairo in April 1959.

Gabon joined in 1975, left in 1995 and came back in 2016. Equatorial Guinea (2017) and the Republic of the Congo (2018) joined last. Each member has one vote, and decisions other than procedural ones need every member's agreement.

Map of the Americas, Africa and the Middle East. The 11 OPEC members are blue: Venezuela, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran. Ecuador, Angola, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which left, are rust. Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Oman, Sudan and South Sudan, in OPEC+ only, are dark blue.
  • Member
  • OPEC+ only
  • Left OPEC
  • Not a member

How OPEC grew

Countries that joined in each year, and the total after

  1. IranIraqKuwaitSaudi ArabiaVenezuela19605 founders
  2. Qatar19616
  3. IndonesiaLibya19628
  4. United Arab Emirates19679
  5. Algeria196910
  6. Nigeria197111
  7. Ecuador197312
  8. Angola200713
  9. GabonIndonesia left201613
  10. Equatorial Guinea201714
  11. Republic of the Congo201815
  12. Qatar left201914
  13. Ecuador left202013
  14. Angola left202412
  15. United Arab Emirates left202611

All 11 members and the year each joined

Who has left OPEC?

Five members have left or stepped back since 2016. Qatar left on January 1, 2019, to focus on natural gas. Ecuador left a year later, saying it needed to cut public spending. Angola left on January 1, 2024, after a dispute over its quota. The United Arab Emirates left on May 1, 2026, after 59 years. Its government cited its "evolving energy profile," and it aims to be able to pump 5 million barrels a day by 2027.

Others have talked about leaving. Iraq said on June 25, 2026, that it would decide whether to stay if it did not get a higher quota. Bloomberg reported on August 28, 2026, that Venezuela is weighing an exit. Neither has announced a decision.

  • United Arab EmiratesLeft 2026

    Joined in 1967 as Abu Dhabi, four years before the UAE existed. It left on May 1, 2026, to be free to pump more than its quota.

  • AngolaLeft 2024

    Joined in 2007 and left on January 1, 2024. Its oil minister said OPEC no longer served Angola's interests after a fight over its quota.

  • EcuadorLeft 2020

    Joined in 1973, stepped out from 1992 to 2007 and left on January 1, 2020, citing the need to cut public spending.

  • QatarLeft 2019

    Joined in 1961, the first country after the five founders. It left on January 1, 2019, to focus on exporting liquefied natural gas.

  • IndonesiaSuspended

    Joined in 1962. Now a net oil importer, it suspended its membership in November 2016 rather than cut output. It has not withdrawn.

How much oil does OPEC produce?

OPEC's 11 members pumped 26.2 million barrels a day of crude in 2025, 31% of the world's 84.4 million, by the US Energy Information Administration's count. The 21 countries of OPEC+ pumped half. The United States, the largest producer, belongs to neither. In 1973 OPEC pumped 53% of the world's crude.

The Iran war has cut OPEC's output far more than any quota. After the Strait of Hormuz closed on February 28, 2026, crude output from OPEC's 12 members at the time fell from 29.6 million barrels a day in February to 20.2 million in April, by the International Energy Agency's count. Kuwait pumped only 570,000 barrels a day in April and exported none. In August 2026 Saudi Arabia's output was its lowest in more than three decades, by both the IEA's and OPEC's counts.

The largest oil producers, 2025

Full ranking →
  1. United States13.6
  2. Russia9.9
  3. Saudi Arabia9.6
  4. Canada5.0
  5. Iraq4.4
  6. China4.3
  7. Iran4.1
  8. United Arab Emirates3.8
  9. Brazil3.8
  10. Kuwait2.6
  11. Kazakhstan2.0
  12. Norway1.9
  13. Mexico1.7
  14. Nigeria1.6
  15. Libya1.4
  • OPEC
  • OPEC+ only
  • Left OPEC
  • Neither
Crude oil in millions of barrels a day (EIA). Colors show where each country stands today.

What is OPEC+?

OPEC plus 10 other oil producers, led by Russia. Oil prices fell from about $110 a barrel in mid-2014 to $29 in January 2016, as US shale output surged and OPEC kept pumping. On December 10, 2016, OPEC and 11 other producers signed a Declaration of Cooperation in Vienna and cut output together from January 2017. Equatorial Guinea later joined OPEC itself, and the UAE left both groups in 2026, which leaves 21 countries.

OPEC+ sets an output target for each country. In April 2020 it agreed the largest cut in history, 9.7 million barrels a day. Some members pump above their targets: Kazakhstan produced 1.79 million barrels a day in March 2025 against a target of 1.47 million. From April to September 2026 the group raised its targets every month, but the war kept actual output far below them.

OPEC

11
Map of the 11 countries in the OPEC
The 11 members since the UAE left. They pumped 31% of the world's crude in 2025.

OPEC+

21
Map of the 21 countries in the OPEC+
OPEC plus 10 producers led by Russia, cutting output together since 2017. Half the world's crude in 2025.

What did OPEC do in 1973?

It raised oil prices and backed an embargo. On October 16, 1973, ten days into the Yom Kippur war, OPEC's six Gulf members raised the posted price of their oil by 70%, to $5.12 a barrel. The next day the Arab oil producers, meeting as a separate group called OAPEC, agreed to cut output by 5% a month. Saudi Arabia stopped oil shipments to the United States on October 20, after President Nixon asked Congress for $2.2 billion in aid to Israel. The embargo also hit the Netherlands. Iran did not take part.

From January 1, 1974, the Gulf members set the price at $11.65 a barrel, about four times the level before the crisis. The Arab producers lifted the embargo on the United States in March 1974, but the higher prices stayed.

OPEC's history

  1. 1960Five countries found OPEC in Baghdad
  2. 1965Moves from Geneva to Vienna, after Switzerland refused it diplomatic status
  3. 1973Gulf members raise prices 70%; Arab producers stop oil sales to the US
  4. 1974The oil price reaches $11.65 a barrel, four times higher
  5. 1975Carlos the Jackal's gang storms an OPEC meeting in Vienna and takes 11 oil ministers hostage
  6. 2016OPEC and 11 other producers led by Russia agree to cut output together
  7. 2026The United Arab Emirates leaves after 59 years

Is it in OPEC?

Short answers for the countries people ask about most.

Is the UAE in OPEC?

No

It left on May 1, 2026, after 59 years, to be free to pump more than its OPEC+ quota allowed. It left OPEC+ too.

Is Saudi Arabia in OPEC?

Yes

A founder in 1960 and OPEC's largest producer, 9.56 million barrels a day in 2025. The war cut its output to a three-decade low in August 2026.

Is Russia in OPEC?

OPEC+

Not a member, but it leads the 10 producers outside OPEC that set output with it in OPEC+. It is OPEC+'s largest producer.

Is the United States in OPEC?

No

It is the world's largest oil producer, 13.6 million barrels a day in 2025, 16% of the world's crude. It is not in OPEC+ either.

Is Venezuela in OPEC?

Yes

A founder in 1960, with the world's largest proved reserves. Bloomberg reported in August 2026 that it is weighing an exit.

Is Qatar in OPEC?

No

It joined in 1961, the first country after the founders, and left in January 2019 to focus on natural gas.

Is Nigeria in OPEC?

Yes

A member since 1971 and OPEC's largest producer in Africa, 1.6 million barrels a day in 2025, ahead of Libya and Algeria.

Is Angola in OPEC?

No

It left in January 2024, 16 years after joining, after a dispute over its quota.

Is Kazakhstan in OPEC?

OPEC+

It is in OPEC+ only, and has pumped well above its target: 1.79 million barrels a day in March 2025 against 1.47 million.

Is Brazil in OPEC?

No

In February 2025 Brazil approved joining the OPEC+ Charter of Cooperation, a forum for talks with no output quotas.

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