Since oil is in such
high demand and many of these countries have economic problems,
they banded together to create a cartel in 1960. OPEC members realized that if oil prices were too low, they would
produce too much and not earn as much money. They also realized
that if prices became too high, the overall world economy could be
damaged and OPEC would not sell as much oil. BTW, A cartel is
an agreement in which a group of producers try to influence the
price of their good by limiting its supply.