Member states of OPEC

The OPEC has twelve member states: six in the Middle East, four in Africa, and two in South America.

List

Country	Region	Joined OPEC[1]	Population (July 2008)[2]	Area (km²)[3]
Algeria	Africa	1969	33,779,668	2,381,740
Angola	Africa	2007	12,531,357	1,246,700
Ecuador	South America	2007[A 1]	13,927,650	283,560
Iran	Middle East	1960[A 2]	75,875,224	1,648,000
Iraq	Middle East	1960[A 2]	28,221,180	437,072
Kuwait	Middle East	1960[A 2]	2,596,799	17,820
Libya	Africa	1962	6,173,579	1,759,540
Nigeria	Africa	1971	158,259,000	923,768
Qatar	Middle East	1961	824,789	11,437
Saudi Arabia	Middle East	1960[A 2]	28,146,656	2,149,690
United Arab Emirates	Middle East	1967	4,621,399	83,600
Venezuela	South America	1960[A 2]	26,414,816	912,050
Total			369,368,429	11,854,977 km²

1. ^ Ecuador initially joined in 1973, left in 1992, and rejoined in 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} One of five founder members that attended the first OPEC conference, in September 1960.

Former members

Country	Region	Joined OPEC	Left OPEC
Gabon	Africa	1975	1994
Indonesia	East Asia	1962	2008

The United States was a de facto member during its formal occupation of Iraq via the Coalition Provisional Authority.^[4][5]

Indonesia left OPEC in 2008 because it ceased to be a net exporter of oil. It could not fulfill the demand of its own country's needs, as growth in demand outstripped output. The situation was made worse because of lacking legal certainty and corruption that deterred foreign investors from investing in new reserves in Indonesia. In recent times, the government has increased financial incentives for foreign firms to invest in exploration and extraction but has found itself forced to import more supplies from the likes of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Indonesia's departure from OPEC will not likely affect the amount of oil it produces or imports. The country's growing dependence on imports is proving increasingly expensive as global prices soar.^[6]

References

1. ^ "Who are OPEC Member Countries?". Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. http://www.opec.org/library/faqs/aboutopec/q3.htm. Retrieved 4 January 2009. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ "Field Listing - Population". CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2119.html. Retrieved 4 January 2009. 
3. ^ "Field Listing - Area". CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2147.html. Retrieved 4 January 2009. 
4. ^ Noah, Timothy (2007-07-10). "Go NOPEC! Congress takes on the biggest, baddest cartel of all". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2170040/nav/tap3/. Retrieved 2009-08-21. 
5. ^ Noah, Timothy (2003-09-18). "Is Bremer a Price Fixer? Letting Iraq's oil minister attend an OPEC meeting may violate the Sherman Antitrust Act". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2088602/. 
6. ^ "Indonesia to withdraw from OPEC". BBC News. 2008-05-28. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7423008.stm.