Word: bbl
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...aides. By drawing on increasing output from North Sea wells (expected to nearly double from last year to 1985), the Europeans could freeze imports from outside the Community and still burn more petroleum than ever. In the U.S., where domestic oil output has been declining (down about 700,000 bbl. a day since 1972), a freeze on imports would cause more hardship. Japan, which is totally dependent on imported oil, took the same view; Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira reportedly dismissed the European plan as "very clever." Canada, where domestic oil production is also leveling off, joined the U.S. and Japan...
That was what the government chiefs did?sort of. Carter announced a target of holding U.S. imports through 1985 at 8.5 million bbl. a day. That would be slightly more than the nation is importing now and considerably more than it brought in last year, when the start of shipments from Alaska temporarily held down imports. But it would be a low enough ceiling to force curtailment of some cherished petroleum-wasting habits such as lavish outdoor lighting displays, and it might extend or worsen the present prospects of recession. The Europeans accepted the principle of setting country-by-country...
...like Iran and Algeria and so-called moderates like Saudi Arabia and tiny Qatar, the cartel finally settled on its two-tier pricing "compromise." In theory, it would let members' consciences be their guide in deciding just how much money to charge-anywhere from $18 to $23.50 per bbl. In practice, the scheme seems little more than a device for institutionalizing chaos, which in recent weeks has sent the price of oil leaping to as much as two and even three times the officially quoted rate of $14.55 per bbl. After the cartel's communiqué was read...
...system technically lifts the official, or "bench mark," price of crude to a record $18 per bbl., up fully 42% since the first of the year. That is the price that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will charge. The other ten OPEC members, which account for almost two-thirds of the cartel's exports, will sell at $20 per bbl. Reason: most are already charging an average of $17.50 per bbl. as a result of premiums and surcharges, and a rise of a mere 500 per bbl. hardly seemed worth the trouble...
Whatever the new base level, all members will also get to charge so-called differential premiums of up to $3.50 per bbl. The differentials, which traditionally have been set at no more than a small fraction of the base price, are supposed to be applied solely to specially attractive crudes, such as Nigeria's and Libya's low-sulfur oil, which is now much in demand for refining into gasoline. Veteran observers of past OPEC behavior expect the differentials soon to be turning up as part of the price for almost any grade of cartel crude...