OPEC

Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries

The Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organisation created in 1960 with the objective of co-ordinating and unifying petroleum policies among OPEC Member Countries, to guarantee market stability.

Each year, the IEA, the International Energy Forum (IEF) and OPEC organize a Symposium on Energy Outlooks as part of a joint work programme. The symposium gathers senior analysts and delegates from oil companies and banks to discuss the IEA World Energy Outlook and OPEC’s World Oil Outlook. This dialogue is leading to greater convergence in the baseline data that underpins IEA and OPEC analyses.

The 8th IEA-IEF-OPEC symposium was held in 2018 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. IEA Executive Director Dr Birol, who began his career at OPEC before joining the IEA more than two decades ago, emphasized that a healthy dialogue between the IEA and OPEC is critical to ensuring energy security in an environmentally sound and economically sustainable way.