Word: crude
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...milieu that abounds in shadowy figures, Marc Rich is one of the most elusive of all. Probably the world's biggest independent dealer in crude oil, Rich, 49, leads an intensely private life, is rarely photographed and gives no interviews. His money, however, talks. He was the secret partner in the $722 million purchase of 20th Century-Fox in 1981. He is believed to be the "mystery buyer" who the same year tried to corner the global market for tin. The Belgian-born Rich, whose family fled to New York during World War II, found his calling 30 years...
...Japanese are eager to reduce their dependence on Middle Eastern energy sources and are looking for alternatives. They would like to buy U.S. crude from Alaska, which is 2,700 miles closer than Iran. Mike Mansfield, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, and oil-industry officials have been arguing that the Japanese should be allowed to buy Alaskan oil. That, says Mansfield, would help correct the balance of trade between Japan and the U.S. and also save transportation costs for both countries. But the proposal has been blocked by American laws that prevent the export of Alaskan crude...
Japan's aggressive activity in world energy markets reflects the country's experience in the early 1970s. Few nations went through a more wrenching readjustment after the 1973-74 oil shock, when the price of crude rose in less than a year from about $2 to more than $11 per bbl. Before those hikes, Japan's oil consumption had been growing at 15% annually, encouraged by a government policy that de-emphasized the use of coal. When the price of oil jumped, Japan's economy teetered. Factories closed, unemployment rose, inflation zoomed. The Japanese economic miracle...
Energy costs are also unlikely to rebound any time soon. Crude oil prices have leveled off at about $29 per bbl. since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut prices to that level in March. James McKie, chairman of the economics department at the University of Texas, noted that while OPEC has not collapsed, as some had predicted, the oil producers now seem powerless to push prices higher. He warned, however, that the group could regain its clout if Middle East strife once again restricts the flow of oil. Said he: "OPEC will now wait in the wings...
...times last week, the government seemed to be a bigger threat to itself than Solidarity did. In one clear public relations mistake, the authorities mounted a crude display of force against an unofficial ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. A crowd of 1,000, including scores of foreign guests invited by the government, approached the plaque designating the place from which 300,000 Polish Jews were transported from Warsaw to Nazi death camps. After flowers were laid at the memorial, armed militiamen ordered the gathering to leave on the ground that...