Full OPEC Meeting Schedule for 2024

When participating in trading on the financial markets, it is always important to keep an eye on the economic calendars so that you are aware of important upcoming news releases and key events occurring in the financial world. An awareness of the scheduling of high-impact data releases means that a trader can plan their trades accordingly, to either avoid the risk of investing at such a volatile time or to benefit from the rapid movements in asset prices that occur around these events.

One of the most important dates to be aware of in the economic calendar is the timing of the OPEC meeting, as the outcome of this meeting will have a significant impact on market prices, and especially that of global oil.

What is OPEC?

While some of these states have on occasion temporarily suspended their membership of the organisation, they are all currently participating members of OPEC. The headquarters of OPEC were originally located in Geneva in Switzerland; however after 5 years, they were relocated to Vienna, Austria.

The purpose of OPEC is to unify and coordinate the policies pertaining to petroleum amongst its member countries, with the aim of securing stable and fair pricing on behalf of producers of petroleum, as well as ensuring a regular, economic and efficient petroleum supply to consuming nations, and guaranteeing fair returns on capital to anyone investing in the petroleum industry. The 14 nations who are members of OPEC accounted in 2015 for 43% of the world’s oil production, as well as holding 73% of global “proven” oil reserves. This means that OPEC has a significant impact on the prices of oil around the globe. Over the last decade, the world economy has represented a major risk to oil markets because of macroeconomic uncertainties and heightened risk about international financial systems. Increasing amounts of social unrest around the world have also had a major impact on supply and demand, although overall, balance was more or less maintained in the market until 2014, when oversupply combined with speculation resulted in a fall in global oil prices. More recently, there have been further shifts in trade patterns, with increasing demand in Asian countries combined with a stronger world focus on environmental concerns, and an expectation of a new climate-change agreement to be led by the United Nations. Despite this, the OPEC nations still continue to aim for stability across the oil market.

Which are the Current Member Countries of OPEC?

The following countries are currently members of OPEC:

Sudan issued an application for membership of OPEC in October 2015, and is currently awaiting a formal decision as to whether or not its application has been successful.

Production Comparison of OPEC Countries

Country	Region	Membership Years	Population	Area (km2)	Oil Production	Proven Reserves
Algeria	North Africa	1969–present	42,228,408	2,381,740	1,348,361	12,200,000,000
Angola	Southern Africa	2007–present	30,809,787	1,246,700	1,769,615	8,423,000,000
Equatorial Guinea	Central Africa	2017–present	1,308,975	28,050	…	…
Gabon	Central Africa	1975–1995, 2016–present	2,119,275	267,667	210,820	2,000,000,000
Iran	Middle East	1960–present	81,800,188	1,648,000	3,990,956	157,530,000,000
Iraq	Middle East	1960–present	38,433,600	437,072	4,451,516	143,069,000,000
Kuwait	Middle East	1960–present	4,137,312	17,820	2,923,825	101,500,000,000
Libya	North Africa	1962–present	6,678,559	1,759,540	384,686	48,363,000,000
Nigeria	West Africa	1971–present	195,874,685	923,768	1,999,885	37,070,000,000
Republic of the Congo	Central Africa	2018–present	5,125,821	342,000	260,000	1,600,000,000
Saudi Arabia	Middle East	1960–present	33,702,756	2,149,690	10,460,710	266,578,000,000
United Arab Emirates	Middle East	1967–present	9,630,959	83,600	3,106,077	97,800,000,000
Venezuela	South America	1960–present	28,887,118	912,050	2,276,967	299,953,000,000

OPEC Total	483,630,000	12,492,695	35,481,740	1,210,703,000,000
World Total	7,780,076,000	510,072,000	80,622,287	1,650,585,000,000
OPEC Percent	6.3%	2.4%	44%	73%

How Many OPEC Meetings are There Each Year?

The supreme authority of the OPEC organisation is the OPEC conference, and this is made up of delegations that are normally spearheaded by the oil minister of each respective member country. The OPEC Secretary General is the organisation’s chief executive. Ordinarily, the conference takes place at their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and in normal circumstances it occurs a minimum of twice per annum, with extra meetings taking place as and when required. Generally, the conference operates on the principle of unanimity, with each member having one vote, and every country having to pay the same fee for membership into an annual budget. In practice, as Saudi Arabia stands out from the other member countries as being the biggest and most profitable oil-exporting country worldwide, it has the capacity to act as a swing producer, balancing global markets, and therefore serves as the de facto leader of OPEC.

When is the Next OPEC Meeting?

Here is the schedule for the upcoming OPEC meetings:

OPEC Meeting Dates for 2024

• 5th of March: 178th (Extraordinary) OPEC Meeting
• 10th of June: OPEC Meeting in Vienna

What is the Significance of OPEC Meetings for Traders?

Fundamental analysis is always important for a trader who wishes to achieve the best possible success in the financial markets, and keeping a close eye on the economic calendar and economic indicators is a major part of this. OPEC meetings have a significant impact on the global prices of oil, which in turn affect the prices of numerous other assets, and also impact on global economies and currencies. Having an awareness of the dates on which an OPEC meeting has been scheduled enables an investor to prepare in advance for the volatility such an event brings in its wake, and they will therefore be able to use this information to either avoid making any trades until the outcomes of the meeting are known, or alternatively to take a calculated risk of placing their chosen trade at this time in order to capitalise on the expected outcomes of the OPEC Conference.

When Forex trading, it is important to know that global currencies are affected by economic factors such as geopolitical events, interest rates, supply and demand and economic growth. As the economic growth of a country as well as its exports are all linked to domestic industry, it is important to know that the pricing of commodities like oil will influence the currencies of some countries more than others. When there is a decline, or indeed an increase, in the price of oil, it will have a major effect on the economies of certain countries, with three of the currencies that are most impacted by commodity prices being the New Zealand Dollar, the  Canadian Dollar and the Australian Dollar. This information is obviously vital to know if you are a keen Forex trader, especially if you have an interest in profiting from trading these specific currency pairs. The decisions taken at OPEC meetings, such as whether to maintain or freeze oil production, will of course have a measurable impact on the value of the affected currencies, and this data can be used to inform the trades being placed in the volatile market that surrounds these key economic events.

If you are a trader who is keen to avoid taking risks with your money, you should steer clear of investing in currency pairs or other affected assets around the time of the scheduled OPEC meetings, as this period traditionally sees a considerable amount of price movement, and the chances of making a loss are much higher. Alternatively, you may wish to pay close attention to the expert predicted outcomes of the OPEC meetings, and place your trades in accordance with these predictions in an attempt to capitalise on this volatility in the hope of gaining a higher profit.

Other Economic Meetings and Events

• Economic Calendar
• FED/FOMC Meetings
• ECB Meetings
• RBA Meetings
• BoJ Meetings
• SNB Meetings
• BoE/MPC Meetings

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Related Articles