1st Edition

OPEC, the Gulf, and the World Petroleum Market (Routledge Revivals) A Study in Government Policy and Downstream Operations

By Fereidun Fesharaki, David T. Isaak Copyright 1983
    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    First published in 1983, this book provides a detailed look at the OPEC nations’ changing roles in the world oil market as they expanded their participation in "downstream" activities such as the hydrocarbon industries formerly controlled by the major oil companies. The authors begin with a detailed survey of world oil resources and an overview of the production capabilities and polices of major oil exporters. They then examine the contemporary refinery overcapacity crisis in the developed world, outline the refinery construction plans of the OPEC nations and the refinery scrapping problems in the industrialised world, and employ simulation tools to estimate the future output mix of refineries in key OPEC nations. A discussion of the comparative economics of refineries in the Gulf and in Europe in also included.

    Turning to the tanker industry, the authors project future oil export patterns and tanker demand in light of changing import/export need and OPEC’s participation in oil and refined products transport. Subsequent chapters describe OPEC’s ventures into petrochemical manufacturing and natural gas processing. The book concludes with a chapter on the future of OPEC, examining its changing power structure, the influence of non-OPEC oil production, possible future oil-pricing policies, and the opportunities and constraints that OPEC nations will meet as they expand their operations in the downstream oil industry.

    This book will be of interest to students of economics and Middle East and international politics.

    List of Tables; List of Figures; Foreword, Harrison Brown; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Oil Reserves, Production, and Exports; The Oil Market: Structural Changes and Changing Perceptions Reserves and Resources Sources of Information OPEC Oil Reserves Maximum Production Potential Production Profiles The World Oil Balance OPEC Production and Export Policies Iran Iraq Kuwait Qatar United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia Emerging OPEC Export Strategies; 2. The Refining Industry; Demand for Petroleum Products Demand Patterns Refining Processes The Crisis in Refining Construction: OPEC and the Gulf Scrapping and the World Balance: The OECD Countries Gulf Refinery Flexibility and OPEC Product Exports Economics of Gulf Export Refineries The Second Stage: 1990 and Beyond; 3. Oil Transport; History to 1973 Structural Change The Fleet The Future Demand for Tankers Supply and Demand Balance OPEC’s Role; 4. Petrochemicals; Basic Petrochemicals Structure of the Chemical Industry Ethylene and the Olefins Petrochemicals in the Gulf Petrochemical Markets Other Considerations; 5. Natural Gas; Reserves and Production Reinjection Trade OPEC’s Domestic Use of Gas; 6. The Future of OPEC; Power Structure OPEC Pricing Policies OPEC’s New Challenges in the 1980s Impact of Downstream Investments; Abbreviations; Index

    Biography

    Fereidun Fesharaki, David T. Isaak