ABSTRACT
The shock to the world economy that occurred in October–November 1973 made Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) an instantly recognized entity throughout the globe. The events that led to the creation of OPEC began when, in 1952, the Arab League formed a committee of oil experts and drafted plans for an Arab Petroleum Organization, an Arab Pipeline Corporation, an Arab Tanker Corporation, and a research institute. The OPEC Fund for International Development was created first as the OPEC Special Fund following the Algiers Conference meeting in March 1975. OPEC's future may be much the same as its recent past: it may cause its own disintegration, or continue to succeed due primarily to conditions outside and beyond the organization. The increasing economically interdependent nature of the First World's economy and the world's economy makes the potential for an OPEC-like organization in many essential commodities an ever-present reality.
