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Title: Oil politics in the 1980s: patterns of international cooperation

Book ·
OSTI ID:6215708

A negotiated international oil agreement that could help overcome the discrepancy between the technological capabilities and the market needs for energy, and at the same time help with the economic development of the oil-exporting countries is proposed. As a basis for this proposal, this study contains an analysis of the existing world oil market - both its economic and its political features - and a description of various ways it might evolve in the near future. At the outset, a brief sketch of the basic line of argument seems in order before turning to the analysis itself. The point of departure will be an examination of the inherent instability of the world oil market, which results from the structure of the supply-and-demand relationship. This contributes to the high degree of politicization in the market. The author then analyzes the politics of both the OECD and OPEC sides of the market. This discussion of their interests and potential for internal cooperation and conflict will be followed by an analysis of their interdependence. Using this model of the political economy of the oil market, the author looks to future developments and the various ways oil politics might evolve. A solution to many of the future problems that are projected lies in the oil agreement proposed in the concluding chapter. It would regulate the market for the benefit of both producers and consumers, taking into consideration the current complexity of North-South relations.

OSTI ID:
6215708
Resource Relation:
Other Information: A volume of 1980s Project/Council on Foreign Relations
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English