The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC in short, was established at the conference held in Baghdad in 1960 for the regulation of oil prices by petroleum exporting countries. Initially, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela joined the organisation.

These five countries were followed by Qatar, (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973-1992), Gabon (1975-1994), Angola (2007) and Equatorial Guinea (2017).

The headquarters of the organisation has been located in Vienna, Austria, since 1965. Currently, there are 12 members of OPEC, which are Algeria, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

Non-OPEC countries (Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan and South Sudan) closely cooperate with the organisation in the 'OPEC Plus' format. The main goal of OPEC Plus cooperation is to reach a consensus on demand and supply in global oil markets.

The cooperation of Azerbaijan with OPEC became more active with its participation in the organisation's meetings with an observer status. An assembly of the member states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC countries that produce oil was held in Doha, Qatar, on April 17, 2016, to regulate oil prices in the global energy market. Most members of OPEC, as well as representatives from Azerbaijan and Russia, participated in the Doha summit. Azerbaijan was represented at the event by Energy Minister, Natig Aliyev.

Global energy dialogues played an important role during this period in order to eliminate the factors affecting oil prices and to take measures to restore the supply and demand balance. The 15th International Energy Forum and the 23rd World Energy Congress allowed OPEC and the non-OPEC countries to come together, reaching a preliminary agreement on freezing the daily oil production at 32.5 to 33 million barrels at the informal meeting of OPEC member states in Algeria on September 28, 2016.

On October 29, 2016, the first meeting of the High-Level Committee of OPEC members and non-member states was held in Vienna. The first meeting of the High-Level Committee was held in an atmosphere of constructive and productive discussions, with the participation of delegations from 21 countries, including 6 non-OPEC countries (Azerbaijan, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Oman and the Russian Federation). The meeting was co-chaired by Azerbaijan's Energy Minister, Natig Aliyev.

On November 30, 2016, an agreement was reached on the reduction of daily oil production by 1.2 million barrels for OPEC to 32.5 million barrels. On December 10, the OPEC members and 11 non-OPEC countries, including Azerbaijan, signed an agreement in Vienna on reducing the total production by 558,000 barrels per day. According to the Declaration of Vienna, intended for the first half of the year, Azerbaijan took on an obligation of 834,000 barrels, with a reduction of 35,000 barrels in daily production.

On May 25, 2017, within the 172nd meeting of the Council of Ministers of OPEC, an agreement was reached on the extension of the agreement on the reduction of oil production between OPEC member states and non-member states by the end of the first quarter of 2018. Azerbaijan also joined the agreement, signed by 24 countries.

On November 30, 2017, within the 173rd meeting of the Council of Ministers of OPEC, at the third meeting of the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) member and non-member states, a decision was adopted to extend the agreement on reduction of oil production by the end of 2018. Azerbaijan also signed this new agreement of OPEC and non-OPEC countries.

The Ministry of Energy has been regularly submitting information to the Joint Technical Commission of the Joint Monitoring Committee on the daily oil production of Azerbaijan since the Vienna Agreement came into force in January 2017. Since the signing of the agreement, OPEC has repeatedly assessed Azerbaijan as a country that actively fulfils its obligations and demonstrates leadership among the participants.

On June 21-23, 2018, the 7th International Seminar of OPEC, on the theme 'Petroleum – Cooperation for a Sustainable Future' was held in Vienna. Energy Minister, Parviz Shahbazov, delivered a speech at the fifth session, entitled 'The Future of Oil for the World Economy'. The minister also attended the 9th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of OPEC and non-OPEC countries and the 4th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries. At the meeting, Azerbaijan also supported the agreement on the implementation of the production quota by 100 per cent, i.e. the increase of oil production by 1 million barrels per day. Azerbaijan was represented at the event by Energy Minister, Parviz Shahbazov.

At the 10th Meeting of the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, held in Algeria on September 23, 2018, the presentation of the Joint Technical Commission on oil production for August of the current year and the report of OPEC on the global oil market development trends was heard.

On December 4-7, 2018, within the 12th Meeting of the OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of OPEC member states and non-cartel countries and the 175th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of OPEC, the 5th Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC ministers was held in Vienna, Austria. An agreement was reached on the reduction of oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day from the level of October 2018. According to the new decision, from January 2019 oil production was reduced by 800,000 barrels per day by OPEC members, while non-cartel countries reduced their production by 400,000 barrels per day. Azerbaijan also joined the agreement on the production reduction. Azerbaijan has made a commitment to reduce its production by about 20,000 barrels per day. Thus, Azerbaijan had to keep daily production at the volume of 776,000 barrels from the following year. OPEC+ countries are expected to reduce daily oil production after 6 months.

On March 17-18, 2019, Baku hosted the 27th Meeting of the Joint Technical Commission (JTC) of OPEC (Algeria, Congo, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela) and non-OPEC countries (Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan and Russia) and the 13th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC). At the event, the implementation status of commitments made in accordance with the decision adopted on December 7, 2018, at the 5th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, and changes in the oil market were discussed.

On March 19, 2018, Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammad Barkindo, who was on a visit to Azerbaijan, met with Energy Minister, Parviz Shahbazov. At the meeting, the current state of the world oil industry and cooperation within the framework of OPEC+ were discussed.

A special edition of the OPEC bulletin was dedicated to Azerbaijan in March 2019. The special edition, entitled 'Baku hosts OPEC and non-OPEC' was published in the bulletin.  

On May 19, 2019, the 14th Meeting of the Joint Monitoring Committee of OPEC and non-OPEC ministers was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The report of the Joint Technical Commission on oil production for April of the current year was presented at the meeting.

The 15th meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of Members of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-member countries, and the 6th Ministerial Meeting were held in Vienna, Austria, on July 1-2, 2019. A charter on long-term cooperation between OPEC member countries and non-OPEC members was adopted at the 6th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC+. Then an agreement was reached to extend the deadline of the agreement on the reduction of oil production for another 9 months. Azerbaijan also joined the decision of the 'Charter on Cooperation'. The execution of the signed 'Declaration of Cooperation' on the reduction of the daily production of oil by 1.2 million barrels was planned from July 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020.

The Charter of Cooperation was announced by OPEC+ countries at the end of 2016. The main objectives of the Charter of Cooperation are to facilitate dialogue between oil extractors, consumers, investors and participating countries. The overall aim is to promote cooperation in the field of oil market stability, technology and other fields for the benefit of the world economy and to promote a better understanding of the short-, medium- and long-term prospects of the oil market. This includes the approach to oil in the growing global energy balance among the participating countries and support for the energy policies for long-term oil usage.

The 7th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held in Vienna, Austria, on December 6, 2019. A decision was made to reduce daily oil production by more than 500,000 barrels in the first quarter of 2020. Thus, the obligation to reduce daily oil production by OPEC+ was increased to 1.7 million barrels. The additional production volumes were distributed proportionally among OPEC+ countries. Joining the agreement, Azerbaijan reduced daily oil production by another 7,000 barrels per day in addition to 20,000 barrels. Thus, Azerbaijan, whose liabilities grew by 27,000 barrels, had to reduce the daily production by 7,000 barrels from the capacity of their previous commitment, which was 776,000 barrels, maintaining the daily production at the amount of 769,000 barrels from January 2020.

The 8th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held in Vienna, Austria, on March 6, 2020. At the meeting, an agreement of reducing daily oil production by another 1.5 million barrels by the end of 2020 was not reached.

On April 9, 2020, the 9th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held in a video conference format. Following discussions lasting about 11 hours, the new Declaration of Cooperation was adopted. According to the new decision, from May 1, 2020, to April 2022, daily oil production will be reduced in three stages by 10, 8 and 6 million barrels respectively. Azerbaijan has also joined the process of regulating the oil market until 2022. Energy Minister, Parviz Shahbazov, attended the video conference.

On April 12, 2020, the 10th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held in a video conference format. At the meeting the Declaration of Cooperation on the reduction of daily oil production in three stages was approved. The implementation of the OPEC+ decision on reducing oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day from May 1 was unanimously agreed.  Azerbaijan expressed its support for the OPEC+ decision. Minister of Energy, Parviz Shahbazov, attended the video conference.

Several member states of OPEC plus held an informal teleconference on April 21, 2020. Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov also attended the meeting. The current status of the oil market and the implementation of commitments from May were discussed at the meeting.

The 11th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held via videoconference, on 6 June 2020. It was decided to extend the existing quota for oil output cuts by 9.7 million barrels for another month, namely to the end of July. It was agreed that countries failed to fulfill their commitments in May-June would compensate for this with production indicators in July, August and September.  In accordance with the new “Declaration of Cooperation”, Azerbaijan must continue to fulfill commitments of 164 thousand barrels for May-June, maintaining the daily crude oil output at 554 thousand barrels. Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov also attended the meeting.

On September 2020, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov's remarks titled “Azerbaijan’s Minister of Energy emphasizes the importance of cooperation” were also published in the special bulletin dedicated to the 60th anniversary of OPEC on the occasion of the anniversary of organization

On 3 December 2020, at the 12th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, it was decided to cut daily crude oil production by 7.2 mln. barrel for January 2021 and to regulate increase in daily production provided that it does not exceed 0.5 million barrel through monthly OPEC plus Ministerial Meetings.  Azerbaijan also supported the decision. Thus, in January 2021, OPEC countries will reduce to produce crude oil by 4,564 mb/d, non-OPEC countries 2.636 mb/d. According to the new "Decleration of Cooperation", in January 2021, Azerbaijan's commitment will be 123 thousand barrels.  In other words, in January, Azerbaijan should increase its daily crude oil production by 8,000 barrels and keep production at the level of 595,000 barrels. Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov also made a speech at the meeting.

At the 13th Ministerial Meeting of the OPEC plus countries on 5 January, it was decided to continue the existing quotas on daily crude oil production in February-March. According to the new agreement, the daily crude oil production of OPEC plus countries will be 7 million and 125 thousand barrels in February and 7 million and 50 thousand barrels in March. Azerbaijan's commitment of 123 thousand barrels in January this year will remain unchanged in February-March According to the Declaration of Cooperation, in the next two months Azerbaijan will increase its daily crude oil production by 8,000 barrels and keep production at the level of 595,000 barrels. Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov also attended the meeting.

On 4 March 2021, the 14th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC Plus countries was held. At the meeting, the agreement on the continuation of existing quotas on daily crude oil output in April was reached. Azerbaijan also supported the decision. According to the new agreement, Azerbaijan's commitment of 123 thousand barrels in April this year will remain unchanged as the first quarter of the current year.  The daily crude oil production will be kept at the level of 595 barrels.  In April, the daily crude oil production cuts of OPEC plus countries will make up 6,9 million barrels.

On 1 April 2021, the 15th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC Plus countries was held. The decision was adopted at the meeting on increasing the crude oil production up to approximately 1,1 million barrels in the next three months.  According to the new agreement, the production commitments of OPEC Plus countries were set as 6.5 million barrels for May, 6.2 million barrels for June and 5.76 million for July.  The decision was also supported by Azerbaijan. According to the new Declaration of Cooperation, Azerbaijan will increase the daily crude oil production by 8 thousand barrels in May, 7 thousand barrels in June and 10 thousand barrels in July. The new production commitments of Azerbaijan  will make up as 115 thousand barrels for May, 108 thousand barrels for June and 98 thousand barrels for July. Throughout the country, the crude oil production will be maintained at 603 thousand barrels in May, 610 thousand barrels in June and 620 thousand barrels in July respectively.

On 27 April 2021, the 16th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC Plus countries was held. The ministers of OPEC plus confirmed the decision adopted at the 15th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries on production commitments for May-June-July. Within the Declaration of Cooperation, Azerbaijan has also set production quotas for the next three months.

The 17th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held via videoconference, on 1June 2021. At the meeting, it was agreed to keep the decision to increase production in force for July. At the meeting, Azerbaijan has also agreed to keep the plan for maintaining the commitments of daily oil output cut for the participatants of the Declaration of Cooperation at 5.76 million barrels in force in July. Within the Declaration of cooperation adopted, Azerbaijan's commitment to cut output will remain 98,000 barrels per day in July. This means that crude oil production will be increased by 10,000 barrels. Thus, crude oil production in the country will be maintained at 620 thousand barrels per day in July. 

The 18th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held via videoconference, on 5 July 2021. At the meeting, production commitments on the existing decision were discussed.

On 18 July 2021, the 19th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC Plus countries was held. At the 19th meeting it was agreed to increase daily crude oil output by 400,000 barrels per month in August-December 2021 and to extend the "Declaration of Cooperation" until the end of 2022 with partial adjustments to the base level of oil production from May next year.  Azerbaijan also supported the decision. The new DoC envisages increasing the volume of daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan every month from August to the end of the year and reducing the obligations related to cuts accordingly. From May 2022 to the end of the year, the calculation of Azerbaijan's oil production obligations will be continued on the basis of the existing base (718 thousand barrels in October 2018).

On 1 September 2021, 20th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries was held via videoconference. In accordance with the “Declaration of Cooperation” adopted in July, the meeting agreed to increase the daily oil production by 400 thousand barrels in October. Azerbaijan also expressed its support for the agreement. The new "Declaration of Cooperation" envisages an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by 7,000 barrels in October to reach 640,000 barrels, while the reduction commitment is 78,000 barrels.

On 6 September 2021 the Ministerial Roundtable on "Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development" under the framework of the "Charter of Cooperation" (CoC) was held between oil producing countries. Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov also made a speech at the event, which took place in videoconference format.

21st Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries was held on 04 October 2021. Azerbaijan also expressed its support for the decision made to increase the daily oil production by 400,000 barrels in November. The new "Declaration of Cooperation" envisages an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by 7,000 barrels in November to reach 647,000 barrels, while the reduction commitment is 71,000 barrels.

At the 22nd Ministerial Meeting of the OPEC plus countries, which was held in 4 November 2021, an agreement was reached to maintain the decision adopted at Ministerial Meeting in July to increase the daily crude oil production by 400 thousand barrels per month during August-December 2021. Within the Declaration of Cooperation adopted, Azerbaijan's commitment to cut output will amount to 64,000 barrels per day in December. So Azerbaijan was provided with an opportunity to increase the daily crude oil production by 7 thousand barrels compared to November, maintaining it at 654 thousand barrels.

The 23rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held via videoconference, in 2 December 2021. At the meeting Azerbaijan supported the decision made on increasing daily oil production by 400 thousand barrels for the January 2022. The agreement of OPEC plus emphasizes careful monitoring of the development of the pandemic and its effects on the market until the next meeting, and if necessary, the immediate amendment to the existing decision. The new "Declaration of Cooperation" envisages an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by 7,000 barrels in January 2022 to reach 661,000 barrels, while the reduction commitment is 57,000 barrels.

The 24th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held via videoconference, in 4 Janury 2022. At the meeting, Azerbaijan also expressed its support to the decision made on increasing daily oil production by 400,000 barrels in February in order to support stability and balance in the global oil market.The new "Declaration of Cooperation" envisages an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by 7,000 barrels in February 2022 to reach 668,000 barrels, while the reduction commitment is 50,000 barrels.

On 2 February 2022, at the 25th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, a decision was made to continue the plan to increase daily oil production by 400 thousand bpd to ensure the balance in the global oil market. The new Declaration of Cooperation envisages an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by 7,000 barrels in March 2022 to reach 675,000 barrels, while the reduction commitment is 43,000 barrels.

The interview of the Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the Declaration of Cooperation has been published in the OPEC bulletin. In the interview, contributions of the Declaration of Cooperation to the global oil market, encouragement of the Charter of Cooperation for close cooperation between the participating countries to maintain market stability, the role of Azerbaijan in the framework of OPEC plus cooperation and other issues were discussed.

On 2 March 2022, at the 26th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC plus, Azerbaijan also agreed to increase daily oil production by 400 thousand bpd in April in order to support the reduction of volatility in the global oil market. The new Declaration of Cooperation envisages an increase in daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan by 7,000 barrels in April 2022 to reach 682,000 barrels, while the reduction commitment is 36,000 barrels.

On 31 March 2022, at the 27th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC plus, Azerbaijan also agreed to increase daily oil production by 432 thousand barrels in May. The growth was determined at the 19th meeting held in July last year according to the agreement on partial changes to the base indicators of oil production. As there are no changes to the basic indicators for Azerbaijan, the country's daily crude oil output is expected to increase by 7,000 barrels to 688,000 barrels in May 2022, and the reduction commitment will be 30,000 barrels.

On 5 May 2022, at the 28th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, Azerbaijan also supported the decision to increase daily oil production by 432 thousand barrels in June.  In according to the quotas set for June, the daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan is expected to increase by 7 thousand barrels reaching to 695 thousand barrels, and the commitment to reduce to 23 thousand barrels.

At the 29th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries on 2 June 2022, Azerbaijan also supported a decision made to increase the daily oil production by 648 thousand barrels in July. In according to the quotas set for July, the daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan is expected to increase by 10 thousand barrels reaching to 706 thousand barrels, and the commitment to reduce to 12 thousand barrels.

At the 30th Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries on 30 June 2022, Azerbaijan also supported the decision to increase daily oil production by 648 thousand barrels in August. In accordance with quotas determined over August, it is envisaged to increase daily crude oil production by 11 thousand barrels to 717 thousand barrels, the reduction obligation is expected to finalize.

At the 31st Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries on 03 August 2022, Azerbaijan also supported a decision made to increase the daily oil production by 100 thousand barrels in September. According to the quota set for September, the daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan is expected to reach 718 thousand barrels.

At the 32nd Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries held on 05 July 2022, Azerbaijan also expressed its support for the decision made to maintain August quotas in October, which is 100 thousand barrels less than the level of September 2022. The new decision envisages 717 thousand barrels of daily crude oil production in Azerbaijan in October.

At the 33rd Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC members held on 05 October 2022 in Vienna, Azerbaijan also agreed to the decision to cut the daily crude oil output by the 2 million barrels from November 2022. According to the new decision, Azerbaijan's commitment to cuts is 33 thousand barrels per day. Thus, the OPEC plus agreement envisages that starting from November 2022, the daily crude oil production in our country will be reduced from the level of August, i.e. 717 thousand barrels and mintained at 684 thousand barrels.

At the 34th online Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries held on 04 December 2022, Azerbaijan also agreed to maintain the decision adopted in October 2022. Thus, the obligations of the participating countries of the Declaration of Cooperation, determined according to the quotas in August of the current year, shall be kept stable. Azerbaijan's commitment to cuts remains unchanged with a daily rate of 33 thousand barrels and a daily quota of 684 thousand barrels of crude oil production.

On 4 June 2023, at the 35th Ministerial Meeting of the OPEC and non-OPEC countries in Vienna, a decision was made to regulate the level of total daily crude oil output of the Declaration of Cooperation countries for 2024.  In accordance with the agreement, the daily crude oil output next year was set at 40.46 million barrels for OPEC plus and 551 thousand barrels for Azerbaijan.

Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov delivered a speech at the 8th OPEC International Seminar on Towards a Sustainable and Inclusive Energy Transition in Vienna on 5 July 2023.

On 30 November 2023, at 36th online Ministerial Meeting of member and non-member countries of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC), it was agreed that Brazil will join OPEC plus from January 2024. The issues related with production quotas of Angola, Congo and Nigeria for next year has been considered. These quotas mean that daily oil production in 2024 will be 1,110 thousand barrels in Angola, 277 thousand barrels in Congo, and 1,500 thousand barrels in Nigeria. It should be noted that the production quota of Azerbaijan for next year is 551,000 barrels per day.

On 2 June 2024, at the 37th online Ministerial Meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, Azerbaijan also supported the decision to extend the current Declaration of Cooperation from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. The new decision provides for the stable maintenance of the current level of crude oil production in the OPEC plus countries in 2025, the extension of the assessment of output indicators by three independent sources until the end of November 2025 and to determine new reference production level for 2026 based on these results. In accordance with the new decision, Azerbaijan's daily crude oil production quota of 551 thousand barrels remains unchanged in 2025.