Organization Of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries - OAPEC

Where there are politics, there are multiple groups...as well as sub-groups. The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OAPEC, is not the be confused with OPEC, the global oil cartel. OPEC was first on the scene in 1960, a group made of oil-producing countries to control oil supply and prices. OAPEC was made eight years later, consisting of conservative Arab oil countries.

There are six member nations that are in both OPEC and OAPEC: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, and Algeria (and Qatar used to be in both, but is more into natural gas than oil these days). While OPEC has been involved in numerous political events, OAPEC was made to be the more political group of the two, albeit a conservative one.

The shape of OAPEC has changed through wars and oil embargos, but today, it says its goal is the cooperation of its members in the oil industry to ensure a sustainable and steady flow of oil to the world, along with safeguarding member interests.

See: OPEC.