Can you believe I am actually writing a blog post about OPEC? Me neither. To be honest, my first thought after reading this request was “what is OPEC again?” I admit I have heard the acronym, but had to double check exactly what it stood for. I thought that I would study up on the subject and write a very educated position paper, but after reading just the wikipedia page, I was ready to tap out.
OPEC of course stands for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. This group of 12 countries gathers from time to time for the goal of safeguarding their own interest of the exportation of oil. They discuss economic conditions to set proper competitive prices that best protect the economic needs and goals of their country. As you can undoubtedly surmise, this is one international organization that the US is not a part of. Though we do export a small amount of oil to Mexico, Canada, and some other countries, we wouldn’t dream of exporting enough to be a part of this group since we need to hoard most of it for ourselves.
I do understand the goal of OPEC and if they are indeed seeking the best interest for all the exporting countries as well as the global economy, than it is a good thing. However, one organization setting oil prices with the primary goal of protecting the oil producers is a very scary thing. That is why many people are against the existence of the OPEC leading to many conspiracy theories and criticism of their actions.
I do not know enough detail to formulate my own opinion about whether or not this organization should be in existence. I do think it is fairly interesting topic for discussion. What is your opinion?
Julia's Valentine Box
9 years ago
1 comments:
My (only partially informed) opinion: I kind of hate that they have us over a barrel (no pun intended), but I cannot blame these countries for banding together to protect themselves and this one resource they have. Many of these countries depend entirely on oil exportation for their financial well being, particularly the African member states. If they were competing with each other and undercutting each other's prices, I'd be paying a lot less for my gas but they'd be building a lot fewer roads or wherever it is their GDP cash goes. With little or no other natural resources to fall back on, they'd be fools not to join together to protect themselves, and I can respect non-foolishness.
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