OPEC
a.k.a. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
A cartel of major oil-exporting countries that coordinates production to influence the price of crude.
OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Vienna. Its members, with Saudi Arabia as the heavyweight, agree on how much oil each should pump. Pump less and prices tend to rise; pump more and they tend to fall.
Its meetings can jolt oil prices, and through oil, inflation expectations and the currencies of exporters and importers alike. Since 2016 it has worked with other producers as OPEC+.
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