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The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that it was quitting Opec, dealing a heavy blow to the oil-exporting cartel and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, at a time when the Iran war has caused a historic energy shock and rattled the global economy. But what is Opec, and how does it impact consumers? What is Opec? Founded in 1960, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is a bloc of oil-exporting nations that coordinate their oil and gas policies as a means of managing the oil market. The founding members were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, but in 2016 the group expanded into OPEC+, which now comprises 23 countries. The bloc controls slightly over 50 per cent of global crude production, Jorge León, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, told Reuters . What is the purpose of Opec? Opec’s main purpose is to reduce volatility in oil markets, León said. He used the example of the Covid-19 pandemic, when oil demand dropped by 20 milli...