Behavioral changes in the organization of petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) in the crude oil world market

The main aim of this survey is to investigate the evolution of the OPEC mode of behavior and link the evolution to some important events in the (global) crude oil market. The dominant conclusion of this survey confirms that the primary purpose of OPEC has been to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries, in order to secure their individual and collective interests. OPEC has affected oil price fluctuations through changes in production and quotas. This influence, however, has been varying over time.  There are a few examples that indicate a loss in OPEC ability to control oil price fluctuations (whether up or down). Market conditions explain these changes in OPEC's influence on oil prices. Due to the volatile nature of OPEC actions, there is not a single model that can explain OPEC behavior.  Researchers have thus resorted to multiple models to explain some special events. Since these diverse models provide very similar predictions and results, empirical work has been unsuccessful in differentiating between them. The main finding of this study is that OPEC's impact on oil price fluctuations has not been the same over time and has been variable.