Oil prices have been volatile for decades
This explainer shows oil’s rollercoaster: OPEC-led embargoes in the 1970s, shale surges in the 2000s, and the US flip to becoming a net oil exporter in 2020.
OPEC
1440 Findings
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
Pinned OPEC has grown from five to 12 members since 1960
OPEC’s official members page features profiles for all 12 current member countries—Algeria, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Venezuela—detailing their joining history, national data, and links to individual country pages.
In 2016 OPEC and 10 major producers—including Russia—launched OPEC+
OPEC+ emerged in 2016 when 10 additional producers, including Russia, joined to stabilize markets amid U.S. shale growth. In 2022, OPEC alone supplied 38 % of global crude oil, but combined with OPEC+, output reached nearly 59 % of world production—significantly amplifying its market power.
OPEC’s 1973 embargo sparked the first global energy shock
In October 1973, Arab OAPEC countries stopped or significantly reduced oil exports to nations backing Israel during the Yom Kippur War. Crude prices nearly quadrupled, sparking global shortages, economic recession, rationing, and major energy policy reforms.
Lessons from the 1973 energy crisis still echo in today’s geopolitical battles over oil
The video from the Economist highlights how energy supply disruptions can be weaponized—just as in 1973, today’s gas cutoffs (Russia throttling supplies to Europe after their invasion of Ukraine) reveal the ongoing importance of strategic energy resilience.
Explore OPEC’s official webpage
OPEC’s official website offers a comprehensive hub for its core work—featuring press releases, monthly and statistical reports, digital publications like the World Oil Outlook and Annual Statistical Bulletin, and other research center materials.
Oil prices have been volatile for decades
This explainer shows oil’s rollercoaster: OPEC-led embargoes in the 1970s, shale surges in the 2000s, and the US flip to becoming a net oil exporter in 2020.
Trace the rise of oil: from early drilling to today’s global power
This animated map video vividly illustrates how petroleum shaped global politics and industry—from 18th-century uses and 19th-century drilling booms in North America to today’s OPEC strategies, shale revolution, and geopolitical oil influence.
The Seven Sisters were a dominant midcentury Western oil consortium
Amid the fallout of World War II, Western multinational corporations expanded their control of the production of oil across the oil-rich Middle East, earning the pejorative nickname of the Seven Sisters. In the 1970s, the group’s role diminished as nationalist movements pursued sovereign control of the oil.
The 1967 war was the first use of oil as a geopolitical weapon
Following the June 1967 Arab–Israeli war, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, and Algeria embargoed oil shipments to the US, UK, and West Germany. While the move did not have a large impact, it reshaped global oil flows, and foreshadowed OAPEC's later actions.
Israel’s swift victory in the Six-Day War redrew the map of the Middle East
Learn more about the June 1967 conflict which shifted territorial lines across Israel and its neighbors—Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq—reshaping the Middle East’s political landscape with long-lasting geopolitical ramifications.
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