Word: bbl
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...everyone is quite so gloomy, but the current brisk run-up in oil prices serves as a reminder that the U.S. energy supply is increasingly under the influence of outside forces. During March commodities traders bid the price of oil above the $20-a-bbl. threshold for the first time in 17 months. Last week the futures price of West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude, reached $20.15 a bbl., up some 50% since last October. The rally largely reflects an unexpectedly successful campaign by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, along with several non-OPEC countries...
While the price of petroleum is still a long way from its $35-a-bbl. peak in 1981, the U.S. is sliding back to a level of dependence on foreign sources not seen since the oil-shock days of the 1970s. January petroleum imports averaged 8.1 million bbl. a day, up almost 21% from a year ago and surpassing domestic production (8 million bbl.) for the first time in more than a decade. The import surge has hampered efforts to shrink the U.S. trade deficit, and rising prices have aggravated inflationary pressure...
Troubled S & Ls are heavily concentrated in Texas and California, where state thrift regulations were loose and local economies had booms and busts. Many Texas thrift owners who pumped money into energy ventures when oil sold for $29 per bbl. in 1983 saw their collateral collapse in value when prices plummeted below $10 in 1986. In California some thrifts invested in real estate markets that became glutted, including Los Angeles office towers and Beverly Hills condominiums...
When OPEC members agreed last November to limit the group's oil production to 18.5 million bbl. per day in hopes of boosting prices, veteran oilmen were skeptical. Previous all-for-one pacts had crumbled when members secretly exceeded their quotas. This time producers are still cheating, but considerably less than most experts had expected. Oil-industry analysts estimate that OPEC is producing just 1 million bbl. per day more than the quota. As a result, OPEC's relative restraint is sparking a rally in the oil markets. The price of West Texas intermediate, a benchmark crude, reached...
...fossil-fuel burning will never be eliminated, they can be cut down significantly. An immediate way to do so is through conservation. When oil prices soared in the 1970s, industries responded by becoming much more energy efficient. But the plunge in the price of oil from $36 per bbl. in 1982 to less than $12 per bbl. this fall has cooled the enthusiasm for conservation. Governments must rekindle that interest and boost energy saving by setting or raising minimum efficiency standards for automobiles, appliances and other machinery...