This paper, which is developed within the framework of political economy of petroleum starts by a brief reviewing of OPEC’s policy instrument based on members’ excess production capacities and quota systems for managing the global oil market. The basic shortcoming in modeling OPEC’s economic behavior is then examined. The analytical framework used in this paper for speculations on the future role of OPEC in a diversified future energy market incorporates the impacts of the followings on expected OPEC’s supply: Non-OPEC production potentials of crude oil, long-term supply of unconventional sources of crude oil and long-term potentials of production from renewable sources of energies. It is concluded that there are a number of evidences to support the scenario of continuity of the significant share of OPEC’s crude oil production in the future diversified energy mix, hence OPEC’s role in the management of global energy market.
