OPEC 's share of total global crude oil production 2009-2020

OPEC produced approximately 37.1 percent of the world’s total crude oil in 2020. OPEC's crude oil was sold for an average price of around 41.47 U.S. dollars per barrel that year. OPEC stands for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and was established in Iraq in 1960.

Regional distribution and OPEC

OPEC includes fourteen member countries located mostly in the Middle East and Africa, though also in South America. Over the past decade, roughly a third of the world’s total oil production has come from the Middle East, while the share produced by Africa and South America have been declining. Overall, global oil production has increased every since 1998, except for the years surrounding the financial crisis, from 2007 to 2009, as well as in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The recession hits prices

After several years of heavy increase, OPEC oil prices spiked in 2008 higher than they’d ever been. While prices fell again in 2009, they have remained significantly higher than in the early 2000s and years prior, at times nearly double or triple their previous levels. OPEC oil prices were at their peak between 2011 and 2014.