Answer:
The OPEC member countries control a large percentage of the world's oil production which gives them a lot of power to affect world oil prices.
Explanation:
OPEC with a total number of 14 members at present produces about 40 percent of the world's crude oil. Therefore, OPEC actions do affect international oil prices because of the size of the market share the collective controls. However, there are also oil sources beyond the OPEC states. For example, Brent Crude refers to oil that is produced in the Brent oil fields and other sites in the North Sea. WTI is the benchmark crude for North America. WTI is better suited to the production of gasoline while Brent oil favors diesel fuel production. Because together OPEC holds three-quarters of the world's conventional oil reserves and has the world's lowest barrel production costs, it can influence world oil prices and supply by deciding to either produce more or less barrels. If OPEC lowers production the price of oil increases because Brent and WTI have to make up the difference, and their production prices are higher. However, OPEC's ability to affect prices is changing with Canada, China, Russia and the United States increasing their own output in recent years.
Group building and maintenance roles are those related to the functioning of a group as a an actual group. Their main purpose is to alter or maintain how the group works, and these roles are are referred to as group/team building or maintenance roles: they help build a group-centered identity. Out of the following, encourager, follower and gatekeeper are group building and maintenance roles.
Encourager: its main function is to be the group or team’s cheerleader. An encourager stimulates people to come up with new ideas, and then compliments the group or team members on the ideas they were able to generate. They foster an environment where any kind of ideas and suggestions are welcomed.
Follower: followers are individuals who try not to jeopardize the harmony the group. They are often passive, limiting their role to just observing the group’s decision processes and serving as an audience for said process during group discussions.
Gatekeeper: gatekeepers ensure that every participants is able to be freely and openly involved in the group’s decision-making. Gatekeepers usually encourage people who are have lost the point in a discussion to finally arrive at their decision, and encourage those who are more reticent to voice their opinions to participate in the decision-making process.
