Opec The Gulf And The World Petroleum Market

This book gives information on the OPEC nations' changing roles in the world oil market as they expand to "downstream" activities. It provides an overview of the production capabilities and policies of major oil exporters and examines the refinery overcapacity crisis in the developed world.

First published in 1983, this book provides a detailed look at the OPEC nations� changing roles in the world oil market as they expanded their participation in "downstream" activities such as the hydrocarbon industries formerly controlled by the major oil companies. The authors begin with a detailed survey of world oil resources and an overview of the production capabilities and polices of major oil exporters. They then examine the contemporary refinery overcapacity crisis in the developed world, outline the refinery construction plans of the OPEC nations and the refinery scrapping problems in the industrialised world, and employ simulation tools to estimate the future output mix of refineries in key OPEC nations. A discussion of the comparative economics of refineries in the Gulf and in Europe in also included. Turning to the tanker industry, the authors project future oil export patterns and tanker demand in light of changing import/export need and OPEC�s participation in oil and refined products transport. Subsequent chapters describe OPEC�s ventures into petrochemical manufacturing and natural gas processing. The book concludes with a chapter on the future of OPEC, examining its changing power structure, the influence of non-OPEC oil production, possible future oil-pricing policies, and the opportunities and constraints that OPEC nations will meet as they expand their operations in the downstream oil industry. This book will be of interest to students of economics and Middle East and international politics.

Examination of the international oil industry from an economic vantage point.

A glut of oil, dropping prices, the threat of insolvency, a divided membership -- these developments in the early weeks of 1985 underline the cogency of Mohammed Ahrari's historical study of the OPEC oil cartel and his argument that economic forces, not politics, determine OPEC's action in the world arena. The impetus for the formation of OPEC in 1960 was the desire of the oil-producing states for greater income from their most valuable resource. The international oil corporations had secured lucrative concessions early in this century, and in the 1960s they still dictated both the terms of production and the prices paid the oil states. In the buyers' market of the 1960s, the organization found itself with little economic clout. But in the early 1970s, OPEC members succeeded not only in manipulating the price of crude oil but in reducing the status of the oil corporations to that of mere managers of upstream operations. In addition, they accumulated enormous numbers of petrodollars by exploiting increasingly tight markets in the aftermath of the oil embargo of 1973 and the Iranian revolution in 1979. The effects of OPEC policies on the consuming countries have been skyrocketing inflation and sustained recession, with profound political repercussions. But the OPEC members have found their apparent power an uncertain blessing, as Mr. Ahrari demonstrates. Their failure to develop pricing formulas sensitive to fluctuations in the international oil market have made them highly vulnerable. In addition, the political tensions emanating from the Iran-Iraq war and from the specter of repetition of Iranian-style revolution elsewhere in the Persian Gulf have made OPEC's continued viability highly uncertain.

Originally published in 1985. This book gives the views of both oil producers and oil consumers, detailing in a systematic manner the problems that they have encountered in the energy field and the solutions that they have devised to deal with them. The book makes clear that producers and consumers have common purpose in the conservation and judicious management of the dwindling and non-renewable world oil resources. It also makes clear that they share a consistent vision of the industry’s future development. The contributions to the book explore a range of important themes in the development of the energy sector. The future of OPEC is discussed in the context of the state of the world oil market. Other chapters consider the lessons that have been drawn by the Arab Gulf oil producers and throughout the book there is comparison with the experience of Canada providing a number of important insights into the operation of the world oil industry.