Oil Producers vs. Oil Users

They formed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC. Since the OPEC was instated to protect the interests of oil producers, it could be seen as an example of regional integration. The OPEC is widely considered, throughout the world, as a cartel. This would be an intellectual misconception. The concept of cartel would consider oligarchies limiting competition and monopolies increasing prices. Oppositely, many international oil producers are not members of the OPEC. These non-members saw a fourfold increase in the oil prices, during the 1973 oil embargo. In A history of the modern Middle East, William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton stated that the immediate objective of the OPEC was “to utilize the collective bargaining power of its member states to pressure the Western oil companies to increase oil prices.”. However, the birth of the OPEC did not occur, overnight. In 1947, the Venezuelan and Iranian delegations held talks in Washington, to coordinate their oil policies. In OPEC: Past and Present, Abdul Amir Q. Kubbah stated that the Arab league had a project of creating an “association of Arab oil-producing countries.”, since 1945. The first OPEC-type grouping occurred in 1953, when Iraqi and Saudi delegates joined forces. The agreement between these two states was the first to involve cooperation from both governments. The Arab League held a summit in Cairo, in 1959. During that summit, “views have been exchanged concerning the

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) aims to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries and ensure the

Cars, just about every household in America has probably at least two parked in their driveway at any given time. The dependency on the gas powered car has substantially increased since it’s invention and production back in 1908 by the Ford Motor Company. As of 2014, it was estimated that there were over 88 million cars produced world-wide and growing every day. (Fig. 1) Even though a lot of these vehicles might be the new Hybrid edition, the majority of them have a dependency on oil and gasoline products for their survival and existence. Petroleum products, such as oil and gasoline do not come cheap or even free to the consumer, even the

As stated in his article “Why the Gasoline Engine Isn’t Going Away Any Time Soon,” Joseph B. White believes that “an automotive revolution is coming -- but it’s traveling in the slow lane” (White 260). He goes on to state throughout his article that today’s reality is one that prevents this “revolution” from taking place in the way that Americans all hope for. He sites the current inability to design an engine that would run on an energy source other than gasoline or diesel but still have the same power that traditional engines have, as well as the cost of gasoline versus the cost of electricity, as some of the sources of our woes. Some companies do not want to move away from their old factories and workers whose union agreements make dismissing

Our world economy depends upon petroleum; petroleum, in fact, has shaped the modern world. It has dictated production technologies and methods. It has facilitated the emergence of a worldwide transportation network. It has allowed cites to grow and expand, and determined the spatial landscape of regions. Due to our great need for petroleum, the scope of OPEC¡¦s power surpasses our prowess as an economic superpower, considering OPEC regulates the output and the price of oil from their reserves.

In the first two decades of the 20th century, America contained three-fourths of the worlds cars. Aiding to that statistics is the fact that the U.S. was also home to Henry Ford, creator of the Ford Motor company. Ford was a smart man and through specialization, the latest machinery, and the assembly line, he cut the cost to produce a car. This not only increased his profits, but it also made the vehicle more affordable to the everyday citizen. The car was an epic creation, yet, its dependence on a depleting resource made it, and those who depended upon it services, vulnerable. Facing the prospect of an oil shortage, the Federal government stepped in.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed in 1960 to unify the policies of oil exporting countries in the Middle East (About Us). During the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the United States and Netherlands helped Israel in this war with supplies. This angered OPEC countries and acted as a catalyst for the 1973 oil embargo (Reid). Many countries in OPEC and most notably Saudi Arabia, wanted Israel to retreat from territories they gained during the war (Reid). The embargo that resulted caught many Western countries flat footed and sparked a global recession.

I believe that the auto industry will still depend heavily on petrol. It is a very wealthy industry and it involves politics. Electric cars seemed to be the best choice in ecological terms but they are still expensive to be produced and it will take a lot of money and effort in order to adapt gas stations, for instance, into recharging

The United States has made great strides with its oil industries. In fact oil is used in a plethora of products that are commonly used every day such as plastics. The use of oil has allowed the citizens to travel globally, to enjoy the freedoms the combustible engine have provided and to produce affordable energy sources to handle the tasks of living daily life. However, the problem is that oil is not renewable and is unclean. It not only destroys the atmosphere but those who control the majority of the oil are considered the richest countries among the world. All other countries must depend upon those few countries for the excess oil that they provide. This puts the United States at risk for shortages if differences arise between those countries and puts limits on the sort of political sanctions that can be placed on those countries if they commit obvious criminal acts against humanity or threaten war. The fine balancing act of pleasing the Middle East and still maintaining autonomy in the United States even while the United States depends on the Middle East for most of its oil is a double-edged sword. The dependency on foreign oil needs to be reduced to a minimum. There are options open to renewable, clean energy sources. There are alternative fuels that are not necessarily clean but are not crude oil and would help to lessen the need for Middle Eastern assistance. There are however several blockages to

The various ties between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the United States of America has always ebbed and flowed. American-OPEC relations have been strained by events such as the increase in oil prices in 1973 in retaliation of the American support of Zionist terrorists that the U.S. would call “Israel”, but now, the various economies of OPEC nations themselves could be under threat.

In the beginning, England knew about the Middle East’s sources of oil, but oil was not a major source of energy until England created a battleship that ran by fuel. Once England had a need for oil, every other power followed along, including the United States; oil became an required component in industrialization. The need for oil in the whole world increased; America targeted the ME region because it had more than 40% of the oil reserve in the world. For Americans, oil became the most important source of energy, and the most important tool for America to get return capital and to advance technology. The USA developed its own sources of oil, but their need was greater than the sources available, and the ME seemed to have endless amount of oil and endless need of spending its revenues on buildings and not focused on improving the area or make any use of all that money before oil run out

OPEC was founded in 1960 with 5 counties and the goals to be a dependable oil market for themselves, and to stimulate economic growth in other countries. Leading up to the 1970’s OPEC’s growth and business was relatively unnoticed until an Iranian revolution and Arab oil embargo pushed oil prices to new levels. Changing consumer opinions about oil and over supply led to a market crash in 1986; but from 1990 through to 2000 prices strengthened from increases in technology and a more global market. In 2008 the stock market crisis rippled through all industries and even caused the oil market to suffer. Oil prices then rebounded and at June 2014 oil prices set a record high. OPEC currently has just under 40% of the market share and

In a speech made by Mr. Mohammad Barkindo, OPEC is focused on "Securing an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on their capital to those investing in the petroleum industry." The organization holds meetings to discuss what is going on in the global oil and gas economy to establish a reasonable price per barrel. Each country holds a different number of the global oil reserves so the price effects them differently. If the market can stabilize at the right price, the countries can move past tensions and build stronger relationships and create a larger global impact.

Every day the world burns more that 80 million barrels of oil. By 2016, estimates believe that oil consumption will rise to around 100 millions barrels a day. (Oil Facts) The United States was responsible for 25% of the world oil consumption in 2002, and those numbers are rising. (Oil Demand) As demands increase and the supplies of oil continue a rapid depletion, large political powers in the US struggle to keep their heads afloat.

In order to keep up with demand, the United States has been forced to rely on importing 80% of its crude oil. This niche was filled from the creation of OPEC who uses price gouges to create an economic boom in their country, through unifying and controlling the industry. This economic boom produced by OPEC amounts to an annual 730 billion (U.S.) dollars. In order to fully understand the magnitude of power this organization has, we can compare their annual income to every country 's GDP. After doing this we notice that OPEC would be the 20th wealthiest nation trumping 167 countries in the process. This fact is mind boggling because when we talk about GDP we are talking about the value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country. When we talk about OPEC we are talking about a single product which is crude oil. This is worrisome for many reasons, first and foremost being that countries who are not members of the organization don 't want one organization controlling and monopolizing such a valuable resource.