is the group of oil-producing nations founded in 1960 to advance member interests in dealings with industrialized oil-consuming nations. The 13 OPEC members are: Algeria, Ecuador*, Gabon, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Rising world oil demand, tight world oil supplies, and declining U.S. oil and gas production have enabled OPEC to dramatically increase the price of its oil exports since 1973.

*Ecuador has announced its intention to withdraw from OPEC.