Word: crude
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Imports of crude oil from Arab OPEC countries in thousands...
...price of West Texas Intermediate crude, the benchmark for trends in the U.S. oil market, ended the week at $24.49, an increase of $3.51 in two days. In Tokyo the Nikkei stock index plummeted 729.42 yen, closing the week at | 29,515.76 yen. The market drop reflected concern that Japan, which depends on imported oil for 57.9% of its energy needs, might face tougher economic times. In Europe, which also relies heavily on Middle East oil, stock and currency markets gyrated nervously...
...event of a true oil emergency, the industrialized nations are far better prepared than they were in the 1970s. The U.S. now has 590 million bbl. of crude squirreled away in salt domes in Texas and Louisiana. That is enough to satisfy America's gas-guzzling habit for about 34 days. Japan has a similar reserve that would last 142 days...
Still, a tightening of the market could cause price increases, which would send debilitating ripple effects through the world's economies. According to Laurence H. Meyer & Associates, an economic forecasting firm in St. Louis, a rise to $30 in the price of crude would produce a 3% drop in the American GNP by the first quarter of next year and an increase in unemployment from the current 5.5% to 7.5%. The threat would not be so great if the economy were not already teetering on the edge of recession. Says Barry Bosworth, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution...
...broad economic downturn could inflict heavy damage on both banks and S&Ls. The threat of a such a slump was aggravated last week, when oil prices rose more than 10% in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Ironically, rising crude prices would reinvigorate the economies of oil-patch states where thrifts have been hit hardest, but the effect would probably be too little, too late to reduce the cost of the bailout by much...