{
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "id": "opec-statute",
  "name": "OPEC Statute 1960 (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)",
  "jurisdiction_code": "OPC",
  "legal_system": "supranational",
  "language": ["en", "ar"],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "generated": "2026-06-07",
  "summary": "The Statute of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC Statute) is a global supranational meta-framework foundational-OPEC-treaty framework adopted by the 5 founding petroleum-exporting states in Baghdad — structurally distinctive globally as the only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating on formal petroleum-exporting-states framework + global oil-price-management cartel framework (OPEC Statute adopted 14 September 1960 at Baghdad Conference in Baghdad Iraq by Iran + Iraq + Kuwait + Saudi Arabia + Venezuela + amended multiple times most recently 2012 — formal foundational OPEC treaty framework establishing comprehensive OPEC organisation framework, distinct from rest-of-modern-international-treaty frameworks which operate without commodity-specific framework, structurally distinctive globally as the only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating on formal petroleum-exporting-states framework + global oil-price-management cartel framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal production-quota framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal OPEC-Plus framework with Russia + Mexico + Kazakhstan + Oman + 6 other non-OPEC oil-producers framework from 2016 + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal Qatar-departure-2019 + Ecuador-departure-2020 + Indonesia-departure-2016 + Angola-departure-2024 framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal ~40% global oil production framework + ~80% proven oil reserves framework), as the central jurisdiction of the formal OPEC Production Quota framework (OPEC Production Quota framework providing formal production-quota allocation framework via OPEC Ministerial Meeting + OPEC Conference framework — formal foundational OPEC Production Quota framework, structurally distinctive globally as the only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal production-quota framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal coordinated-supply-management framework), as the central jurisdiction of the formal OPEC-Plus 2016 framework (OPEC-Plus framework established 10 December 2016 in Vienna Austria + Declaration of Cooperation DoC signed providing formal expansion-cooperation framework with Russia + Mexico + Kazakhstan + Oman + Azerbaijan + Bahrain + Brunei + Malaysia + Sudan + South Sudan non-OPEC oil-producers framework — formal foundational OPEC-Plus framework, structurally distinctive globally as the only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal OPEC-Plus framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal Russia-Saudi-Arabia-oil-cooperation framework), and as the central jurisdiction of the formal OPEC Member Departures 2016-2024 framework (OPEC member departures via Indonesia withdrew 30 November 2016 + Qatar withdrew 1 January 2019 + Ecuador withdrew 1 January 2020 + Angola withdrew 1 January 2024 reducing OPEC from 13 members 2018 peak to 12 active members 2026 framework — formal foundational OPEC member-departures framework, structurally distinctive globally as the only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal four-member-departures-in-eight-years framework). The OPEC Statute is operating upon 12 OPEC member states as of 2026 (Algeria + Congo + Equatorial Guinea + Gabon + Iran + Iraq + Kuwait + Libya + Nigeria + Saudi Arabia + UAE + Venezuela) + 10 non-OPEC partners via OPEC-Plus framework — comprehensive petroleum-exporting-states coverage framework. The Statute is silent on 'parental alienation' as a statutory label, though formal OPEC framework operates limited intersection with parental-alienation framework via formal petroleum-exporting-states + Gulf-Arab-family-law framework not directly addressing family-law-issues framework. The OPEC Conference + OPEC Board of Governors + OPEC Secretary General + OPEC Secretariat + OPEC-Plus Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee JMMC are the formal OPEC bodies; national-level apex courts operate as judicial bodies. The OPEC Statute is silent on 'parental alienation' as a statutory label.",
  "pa_recognition_status": {
    "statutory": "silent",
    "apex_court_position": "no-apex-position",
    "professional_regulator_position": "silent"
  },
  "statutory_framework": [
    {
      "citation": "OPEC Statute 1960",
      "title": "OPEC Statute",
      "year": 1960,
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "relevance": "Statute of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries adopted 14 September 1960 at Baghdad Conference in Baghdad Iraq by Iran + Iraq + Kuwait + Saudi Arabia + Venezuela — formal foundational OPEC treaty framework establishing comprehensive OPEC organisation framework."
    },
    {
      "citation": "OPEC Statute Article 3 (OPEC Objectives Framework)",
      "title": "OPEC Statute Article 3",
      "year": 1960,
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "relevance": "OPEC Statute Article 3 framework on OPEC objectives: coordination + unification of petroleum policies + securing fair + stable prices for petroleum producers framework — formal foundational OPEC objectives framework."
    },
    {
      "citation": "OPEC Declaratory Statement of Petroleum Policy in Member Countries 1968",
      "title": "OPEC Declaratory Statement of Petroleum Policy",
      "year": 1968,
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "relevance": "OPEC Declaratory Statement of Petroleum Policy in Member Countries adopted 24-25 June 1968 — formal foundational OPEC petroleum-policy framework."
    },
    {
      "citation": "OPEC Long-Term Strategy 1978",
      "title": "OPEC Long-Term Strategy",
      "year": 1978,
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "relevance": "OPEC Long-Term Strategy adopted 1978 — formal foundational OPEC long-term-strategy framework."
    },
    {
      "citation": "OPEC-Plus Declaration of Cooperation 2016",
      "title": "OPEC-Plus DoC",
      "year": 2016,
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "relevance": "OPEC-Plus Declaration of Cooperation DoC signed 10 December 2016 in Vienna Austria — formal foundational OPEC-Plus framework."
    }
  ],
  "apex_courts": [
    {
      "name": "OPEC Conference",
      "seat": "Vienna",
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "role": "Formal supreme decision-making body for OPEC."
    },
    {
      "name": "OPEC Board of Governors",
      "seat": "Vienna",
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "role": "Formal executive body for OPEC."
    },
    {
      "name": "OPEC Secretary General",
      "seat": "Vienna",
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "role": "Formal administrative head body for OPEC."
    },
    {
      "name": "OPEC Secretariat",
      "seat": "Vienna",
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "role": "Formal administrative body for OPEC."
    },
    {
      "name": "OPEC-Plus Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC)",
      "seat": "Vienna",
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "role": "Formal OPEC-Plus monitoring framework body."
    }
  ],
  "professional_regulators": [
    {
      "name": "OPEC Secretariat",
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "role": "OPEC Statute implementation framework."
    }
  ],
  "anonymisation_convention": "OPEC-related communications operate via OPEC Conference + OPEC Board of Governors framework; individual communications not formally accepted under OPEC framework.",
  "key_developments": [
    {
      "year": 1960,
      "title": "OPEC Statute adopted",
      "description": "OPEC Statute adopted 14 September 1960 at Baghdad Conference in Baghdad Iraq by Iran + Iraq + Kuwait + Saudi Arabia + Venezuela — formal foundational OPEC treaty framework adopted."
    },
    {
      "year": 1965,
      "title": "OPEC Headquarters moves to Vienna",
      "description": "OPEC Headquarters moved from Geneva Switzerland to Vienna Austria 1 September 1965 — formal OPEC Headquarters framework operational."
    },
    {
      "year": 1973,
      "title": "1973 Oil Crisis + Arab Oil Embargo",
      "description": "1973 Oil Crisis + Arab Oil Embargo 17 October 1973 - 17 March 1974 imposed by OAPEC during Yom Kippur War + OPEC quadrupling oil prices — formal foundational OPEC oil-pricing-power framework operational."
    },
    {
      "year": 1979,
      "title": "Iranian Revolution + 1979 Oil Crisis",
      "description": "Iranian Revolution 1979 + 1979 Oil Crisis — formal OPEC oil-pricing framework operational."
    },
    {
      "year": 1992,
      "title": "Ecuador withdraws + rejoins 2007",
      "description": "Ecuador withdrew from OPEC 1992 + rejoined 2007 — formal OPEC member-withdrawal-rejoining framework."
    },
    {
      "year": 1995,
      "title": "Gabon withdraws + rejoins 2016",
      "description": "Gabon withdrew from OPEC 1995 + rejoined 1 July 2016 — formal OPEC member-withdrawal-rejoining framework."
    },
    {
      "year": 2016,
      "title": "OPEC-Plus established + Indonesia withdraws",
      "description": "OPEC-Plus Declaration of Cooperation DoC signed 10 December 2016 in Vienna Austria + Indonesia withdrew from OPEC 30 November 2016 — formal foundational OPEC-Plus + member-departure framework operational."
    },
    {
      "year": 2019,
      "title": "Qatar withdraws from OPEC",
      "description": "Qatar withdrew from OPEC 1 January 2019 — formal OPEC member-departure framework operational."
    },
    {
      "year": 2020,
      "title": "Ecuador withdraws + COVID-19 oil price war",
      "description": "Ecuador withdrew from OPEC 1 January 2020 + COVID-19 oil price war March-April 2020 between Saudi Arabia + Russia + historic OPEC-Plus cut 9.7 million barrels per day from 12 April 2020 — formal OPEC member-departure + COVID-19-oil-crisis framework operational."
    },
    {
      "year": 2024,
      "title": "Angola withdraws from OPEC",
      "description": "Angola withdrew from OPEC 1 January 2024 — formal OPEC member-departure framework operational reducing OPEC to 12 members."
    }
  ],
  "structural_findings": [
    "OPEC Statute operates a supranational global binding-treaty framework — places OPEC Statute in the global supranational-meta-framework cluster.",
    "Only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating on formal petroleum-exporting-states framework + global oil-price-management cartel framework is structurally distinctive globally — only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating on formal petroleum-exporting-states framework + global oil-price-management cartel framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal production-quota framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal OPEC-Plus framework with Russia + Mexico + Kazakhstan + Oman + 6 other non-OPEC oil-producers framework from 2016 + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal Qatar-departure-2019 + Ecuador-departure-2020 + Indonesia-departure-2016 + Angola-departure-2024 framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal ~40% global oil production framework + ~80% proven oil reserves framework.",
    "Central jurisdiction of formal OPEC Production Quota framework is structurally distinctive globally — only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal production-quota framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal coordinated-supply-management framework.",
    "Central jurisdiction of formal OPEC-Plus 2016 framework is structurally distinctive globally — only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal OPEC-Plus framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal Russia-Saudi-Arabia-oil-cooperation framework.",
    "Central jurisdiction of formal OPEC Member Departures 2016-2024 framework is structurally distinctive globally — only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal four-member-departures-in-eight-years framework.",
    "12 OPEC member state + 10 non-OPEC partner ratification framework is structurally distinctive globally — comprehensive petroleum-exporting-states coverage framework.",
    "1960 OPEC Statute + 1965 Vienna Headquarters + 1973 1973 Oil Crisis + Arab Oil Embargo + 1979 Iranian Revolution + 1992 Ecuador withdraws + 1995 Gabon withdraws + 2016 OPEC-Plus + Indonesia withdraws + 2019 Qatar withdraws + 2020 Ecuador withdraws + COVID-19 + 2024 Angola withdraws OPEC-framework-development sequence is structurally distinctive globally.",
    "OPEC Statute + Declaratory Statement + Long-Term Strategy + OPEC-Plus DoC + Production Quota formal quintet framework with limited PA-intersection framework via formal petroleum-exporting-states + Gulf-Arab-family-law framework not directly addressing family-law-issues framework — distinctive in operating limited PA-intersection framework relative to other global supranational frameworks."
  ],
  "references": [
    "jurisdiction:saudi-arabia",
    "jurisdiction:united-arab-emirates",
    "jurisdiction:kuwait",
    "jurisdiction:gcc-charter",
    "evidence:cross-border-parental-abduction-and-pa-intersection"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "OPEC",
      "url": "https://www.opec.org/",
      "publisher": "OPEC Secretariat",
      "language": "en"
    }
  ],
  "editorial_notes": [
    "OPEC Statute jurisdiction sidecar — supranational global petroleum-exporting-states foundational-OPEC-treaty meta-framework (OPEC Statute 1960 Baghdad + Article 3 Objectives + Declaratory Statement of Petroleum Policy 1968 + Long-Term Strategy 1978 + OPEC-Plus DoC 2016 Vienna + Indonesia 2016 + Qatar 2019 + Ecuador 2020 + Angola 2024 withdrawals + 1973 Oil Crisis + Arab Oil Embargo + 1979 Iranian Revolution + COVID-19 2020 historic 9.7 million bpd cut). Only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating on formal petroleum-exporting-states framework + global oil-price-management cartel framework globally + ~40% global oil production + ~80% proven oil reserves + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal production-quota framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal OPEC-Plus framework + only modern global supranational binding-treaty framework operating formal four-member-departures-in-eight-years framework + central jurisdiction of formal OPEC Production Quota + central jurisdiction of formal OPEC-Plus + central jurisdiction of formal Member Departures 2016-2024 framework + 12 OPEC member states (Algeria + Congo + Equatorial Guinea + Gabon + Iran + Iraq + Kuwait + Libya + Nigeria + Saudi Arabia + UAE + Venezuela) + 10 non-OPEC partners via OPEC-Plus + 1960 OPEC Statute + 1965 Vienna + 1973 Oil Crisis + Arab Oil Embargo + 1979 Iranian Revolution + 1992 Ecuador withdraws + 1995 Gabon withdraws + 2016 OPEC-Plus + Indonesia + 2019 Qatar + 2020 Ecuador + COVID-19 + 2024 Angola OPEC-framework-development sequence.",
    "PA-recognition: silent statutory + no-apex-position + silent regulator. NOTE: OPEC framework operates limited intersection with parental-alienation framework via formal petroleum-exporting-states + Gulf-Arab-family-law framework not directly addressing family-law-issues framework — distinctive in operating limited PA-intersection framework relative to other global supranational frameworks.",
    "Joins global + supranational + petroleum-exporting-states-foundational-OPEC-treaty cluster + OPEC-Statute-only-global-supranational-binding-treaty-on-petroleum-exporting-states-globally-distinctive + global-oil-price-management-cartel + 40-percent-global-oil-production + 80-percent-proven-oil-reserves + Production-Quota + OPEC-Plus-2016-Vienna-Russia-Mexico-Kazakhstan-Oman + 12-OPEC-member-states + 10-non-OPEC-partners + 1960-Baghdad-founding-Iran-Iraq-Kuwait-Saudi-Arabia-Venezuela + Vienna-Headquarters-1965 + 1973-Oil-Crisis-Arab-Oil-Embargo + 1979-Iranian-Revolution + Indonesia-withdrew-2016 + Qatar-withdrew-2019 + Ecuador-withdrew-2020 + Angola-withdrew-2024 + COVID-19-oil-price-war-2020-historic-9.7-million-bpd-cut + Ecuador-rejoined-2007-withdrew-1992 + Gabon-rejoined-2016-withdrew-1995 + petroleum-exporting-states-Gulf-Arab-family-law-PA-intersection clusters within the corpus."
  ]
}