Word: opec
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...time, depressed oil prices have caused U.S. petroleum production and exploration to dwindle dangerously. This means, experts caution, that America is setting a time bomb. The scary possibility is that by the mid-1990s, as the U.S. becomes dependent on foreign oil for more and more of its consumption, OPEC could suddenly and steeply raise prices, throwing the economy into chaos. Warns Interior Secretary Donald Hodel: "OPEC is being placed back in the driver's seat. The U.S. is being set up for a majoroil-price shock...
These days, though, tales of future shocks seem like distant fantasies. OPEC remains a cartel held together by the loosest of links. Three months ago the group agreed to cut production by 7%, to 15.8 million bbl. a day, and prices later jumped by about $4, to more than $19 per bbl. But OPEC's continued weakness soon surfaced. Last month certain members were reported to be cheating on the cartel's production accord, and prices fell below $15 per bbl. Even as Saudi Arabia worked last week to keep the production agreement intact, causing prices to rise about...
...Still, OPEC is expected to regain its strength sooner or later, and the U.S. is doing little to defend itself against a revitalized cartel. American oil production, which had held fairly steady since the late 1970s, declined last year. Total output fell by 3%, or 300,000 bbl. a day. The Department of Energy projects that U.S. oil production will fall by an additional 440,000 bbl. a day through...
...OPEC has plenty of plans for a comeback but is having no luck making them work. Only three months ago, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries seemed to be regaining a grip on world oil prices. The group's agreement in December on a 7% production cut, to 15.8 million bbl. a day, managed to push prices even higher than OPEC's goal of $18 per bbl. But by last week it was clear that the group's clout had slipped once again, as world oil prices dipped as low as $15 per bbl. Several OPEC countries appeared...
...customers, for a change, rather than for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Crude prices plummeted from $26 per bbl. in January to below $10 in April and remained under $15 for most of the year. The low prices distressed the Saudi royal family and provoked anger from other OPEC countries, prompting the Saudis in October to oust Yamani as Oil Minister after he had spent two decades as a leading OPEC strategist. With that, the Saudis abandoned their price-war tactics. When OPEC met in December, twelve of its 13 members, with Iraq dissenting, decided to cut production...