Fifty years ago, a telegram arrived at the desk of Juan Pablo Perez Alfonso, then the Venezuelan minister of mines and hydrocarbons.
The simple message invited him to a meeting of Middle East oil exporters in Baghdad to discuss the conditions of the world oil market.
But Mr Perez Alfonso, who had for years championed efforts by oil producers to gain greater control of their resources from foreign oil companies, knew exactly what the 1960 message really meant: a new international organisation, known today as OPEC, was about to be born out of the frustrations of oil exporters across the developing world.
"The telegram was put in front of Perez Alfonso - I couldn't see what he was reading - but all of a sudden a smile spread across his face and he looks up at me and says, 'We've done it, we've done it at last'," recalls Alirio Parra, who was at the time an aide to Mr Perez Alfonso and 30 years later was to hold the same ministerial post in Venezuela.
By September 10, 1960, Mr Perez Alfonso had joined ministers from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and Kuwait in the Iraqi capital. Over the next four days, the five countries crafted the principles and founding charter of OPEC, an international organisation that was to have profound impacts on their countries' histories and on the global oil market.
The Baghdad conference caught the world by surprise but it had its roots in a secret agreement signed 18 months earlier in Cairo by the same group of countries at the urging of Mr Perez Alfonso, and Abdullah Tariki, who was to become Saudi Arabia's first oil minister.
"It reads like a novel because, out of the blue, Perez Alfonso is invited to go to this petroleum conference in April 1959," Mr Parra says.
"They started meeting in the lobby of the Cairo Hilton, in the halls, around little tables. I don't think he went to any of the formal meetings of the first Arab Petroleum Congress at all."
On the final day, the ministers slipped off one by one to meet secretly at the Cairo Yacht Club in Maadi, out of view of the press.
The "gentlemen's agreement" they signed there stressed the need for sustained oil prices to support their governments' revenues and underscored the need for foreign oil partners to consult them before changing the official export prices.
For more than a year nothing happened. The big oil companies, which then included Standard Oil of New Jersey and Royal Dutch Shell, had heard rumours of the agreement, Mr Parra says, but "they thought it was just the idea of some crazy politicians".
The companies unilaterally cut the official selling prices of oil from Venezuela and Middle East exporters, in a stroke reducing those governments' revenues substantially.
The price cut was justified by a glut of oil on the market but the "seven sisters", as the oil majors became known, did not bother to explain their move to the host governments.
The companies had developed the oilfields and legally owned the products. Under existing concession agreements they marketed nearly all of the oil and set the official price.
But the oil-producing countries, newly emboldened by the Cairo gentlemen's agreement, no longer saw it that way. They convened in Baghdad, determined to send the oil companies a message that they wanted significantly more say in the use of their own resources.
"The affront was so clear that producers had no other recourse but to form an organisation," Mr Parra says. "Times were starting to change. The producers were starting to wake up and the international oil monopoly was starting to crack."
The process that the five founders of OPEC set in motion in 1960 would take more than 10 years to begin to bear fruit, as oil exporters gradually assumed greater control of their oilfields and at times asserted their right to push oil prices higher than market rates.
Qatar, Libya and Indonesia joined OPEC in 1961 and 1962, followed by Abu Dhabi in 1967. The Emirate's membership was transferred to the whole of the UAE in 1974.
OPEC did not achieve significant power until the early 1970s, as oil producers successfully renegotiated concession terms with foreign oil companies and moved to greater direct control of the oilfields.
In a 1968 declaration, the group invoked an "inalienable right" for member states to directly undertake the "exploitation of their own, indigenous exhaustible resources".
By late 1970 and early 1971, Libya, Iran, Iraq and the Gulf states were putting significant pressure on foreign partner companies to increase export prices and share a greater proportion of the profits with host governments. The "50-50 arrangement", which treated foreign oil companies and host governments as equal partners evenly sharing oil profits and had been in place across the Middle East for decades, quickly began to crumble.
Mehdi Varzi, an oil industry consultant who served in several posts in the Iranian government in the 1970s, recalls one of the first major victories of the oil exporters: signing the 1971 Tehran agreement that gave Gulf producers a larger proportion of the profits from their oil.
"I remember they were really heady days," says Mr Varzi, who was then a senior analyst at the National Iranian Oil Company. "OPEC came out and faced down the majors and essentially said 'we are in control, not you guys'.
"I remember the euphoria among the senior bosses at the time, as if the sky was the limit, that this was our golden era. We could do anything we wanted to."
cstanton@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
More from Aya Iskandarani
The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500