In News :

Context :

• Qatar will cease to be a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries today.
• The country had sent an official notification to the OPEC expressing its wish to pull out and to focus on its liquefied natural gas production in December.

Background:

• The decision came amid the ongoing diplomatic and economic blockade imposed on the country by its Persian Gulf neighbours and several Arab states.
• These countries accuse Doha of supporting terrorism and interfering in their internal affairs. Qatar has strongly refuted these allegations.

Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC):

• OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization of 14 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.
• It was established at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960
• OPEC Secretariat located in Vienna, Austria, it also functions as the Headquarters of the Organization.
• The Secretariat was originally established in 1961 in Geneva, Switzerland. In April 1965 it was shifted to Vienna.