After today’s OPEC meeting, the big question oil watchers are asking is, “Does the OPEC cartel still matter?” The answer, however unpopular, is, “yes, OPEC still matters.” Here’s why:

1) OPEC is still a cartel, even if it isn’t acting like a cartel right now.

The OPEC cartel usually operates by setting oil production quotas for each member at rates that are designed to keep prices at a certain level. Just because OPEC is now not choosing to enforce quotas does not mean that the organization cannot—or will not—change in the future. In fact, OPEC has refrained from using its power on previous occasions. The organization was formed in 1960, but it did not use the considerable power it commanded over oil resources to force price increases for thirteen years. Fundamentally, the cartel still controls 81% of the world’s oil resources, so when OPEC’s most powerful members (currently Saudi Arabia) finally decide to cut oil production, other, less powerful OPEC nations will be willing and eager to comply.

2) Weaker OPEC nations can’t afford to abandon the cartel.

Economically weak and inefficient OPEC nations need high prices more than stronger OPEC nations do. Weak OPEC countries lack cash reserves and, in many cases, cannot keep up with unlimited oil production. Venezuela, for example, is a weak producer even though it sits on the largest proven crude oil reserves on the planet. The economic calamity caused by low oil prices has even caused the nation’s production to decline. Venezuela vehemently opposes Saudi Arabia’s free-for-all production policy but lacks the economic leverage to fight it. Still, its weakness and desperation make it impossible for Venezuela to abandon the OPEC cartel. Venezuela (along with Algeria, Nigeria, Libya, Ecuador, and Iran) may hate OPEC’s current policy, but it has no option. It must wait for OPEC to change policy, because its production power means nothing without Saudi Arabia’s clout in the global market.