Impact of Opec Essays

Impact of Opec Essays Impact of Opec Essay Impact of Opec Essay The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), inter-governmental organization, was established at the Baghdad Conference in Iraq in September 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. These five countries were later joined by eight other countries; Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), and Gabon (1975). Ecuador and Gabon withdrew from OPEC in 1992 and 1994. The current eleven OPEC members account for about 40 per cent of world oil production, and two-thirds of the world’s proven oil reserves. Note: Iraq remains a member of OPEC, but Iraq’s production has not been a part of OPEC quota since 1998). The purpose of OPEC is to co-ordinate and unifies petroleum policies among the member in order to limit supplies in the hope of keeping prices high. From 1920s to 1960s, the major oil companies colluded to prevent prices from falling. In th e 1960s, OPEC had started as a group of five oil producing, developing countries, seeking out the member countries’ legitimate rights in the international oil market. So the rise of OPEC was tied to a shifting balance of power from the multi-national oil companies to the oil producing countries. The creation of OPEC intensified the need among the Third World countries for closer cooperation in order to achieve their political and economic objectives. Membership grew to ten within the decade. In 1970’s, member countries took control of their domestic petroleum industries and acquired the right to influence the pricing of crude oil on the world market. There were two oil pricing crises, triggered by the Arab oil embargo in 1973 and the Iranian Revolution in 1979. During the 1973 War between Egypt and Israel, Saudi Arabia refused to increase production in order to halt rising prices unless the United States backed the Arab position. When the U. S. government proposed a military aid package for Israel, Arab States began an oil embargo against the United States and later expanded to the Portugal, South Africa, and Netherlands. The first Summit of OPEC sovereigns and Heads of State was held in Algiers in 1975. OPEC acquired its 11th and final current member, Nigeria, in 1971. In 1980s, oil prices peaked at the early period in the decade. Iranian Revolution and ensuing stop of Iranian petroleum exports had caused panic and speculation in the world oil market. This is called Second Oil Shock. Moreover, the outbreak of the war between Iran and Iraq in 1980 affected the oil market. The Iran-Iraq war removed almost 4 million barrels of oil a day from the world market. Since early 1980s, the world petroleum market confronted OPEC with an unfavorable choice such as cutting price to regain market or cutting production to maintain price. But OPEC did not want to reduce oil prices; for fear that they would loose economic and political gains, and their political influence. Environmental issues began to be discussed as an international agenda In the early 1990s, OPEC experienced a third price crisis when Iraq invaded OPEC member Kuwait. Iraq had long claimed the territory of Kuwait. In 1991 the territorial conflict was worsen by the oil issues. One of them was the continued pumping of oil by Kuwait from a field located under both countries and another issue was low oil revenues for Iraq which made playing off its war debts difficult. Iraqi invasion would expand revenues. Iraqi power in OPEC raised oil price and increases war debts to Kuwait. Iraq thought that the United State response would be political and economic sanction. But the Iraqi invasion causes a military response which was supported by a coalition of western and Arab states. The absence of the two major oil producers (Iraq and Kuwait), could have raised the oil price to ceiling. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and other oil producers expanded production to keep prices from raising a great deal. Since the Persian Gulf War, Iraq has refused to compliant with the United Nations resolutions; in other words, Iraq invasion has resulted in a long term oil embargo. During the 1990s, OPEC continued to emphasize oil production quotas. Oil prices collapsed at the end of the period, but began to increase in the beginning of 21st century, owing to the greater unification of OPEC members and increasing the well-governed oil company in Non-OPEC countries such as (Mexico, Oman, Russia, and Norway), and also increased tensions in the Middle East, and political crises in Venezuela affected oil prices in the world. OPEC has attempted to develop a coherent environmental policy because the international efforts to reduce the oil consumption have been more significant in this century. Economic Impact of OPEC: Our economy depends on its cost, of which a large part is represented by the cost of energy. The cost of the oil products is affected by the price of crude oil, taxation and other causes. The price of crude oil is influenced by the decisions taken by oil producers, especially the price for which they are willing to sell. Oil prices obviously matter to the world economy and OPEC still has influence on oil price decision. Higher oil prices since 1999 was partly caused by OPEC mal-management of oil supply. We can see that OPEC has influence on global economy, because oil prices remain an important determinant of economic performance of each county. If there is a shortage of oil supplies, oil price will rise. This would have all sorts of implications for industry, such as higher transportation costs. Higher costs can lead to lower economic growth. U. S. oil prices began to increase in the early 1970s when OPEC began to assume a major influence on oil prices. In 1970, OPEC members agreed to set an oil export tax rate of 55 percent, and OPEC members started to nationalize the oil industry. In 1973, Arab’s embargo resulted in that crude oil prices increased from average of $4. 15 per barrel in 1973 to $9. 07 in 1974, which led to the United States recession in 1974. In the late 1970’s, during the Iranian Revolution, declination of oil production led huge price increases. U. S. crude oil prices increased from $12. 46 per barrel in 1978 to $35. 24 in 1981. OPEC had huge impact on the economic industries. In term of oil price development, the cost of crude oil for U. S. refiners was $20 in 1996. Oil prices dropped a little in 1997; the cost fell to $12. 04 per barrel. Countries benefited from the lower cost of virtually oil products. Concerning this issue, OPEC member countries agreed to cut production, and OPEC tried to maintain the crude oil price above U. S. refiner cost in 1999. The production cuts pushed crude oil price up, hitting $30 per barrel in 2000. The production, however, started to increase, because OPEC tried to maintain market stability. Economic impact of OPEC has declined in the decades. The United States and other economies are less dependent on oil than they were 20 years ago. Because U. S. and other nation’s economies produces much more national output for each barrel of oil consumed compare to when they produced before. In 1970s, the U. S. economy generated about $250,000 of national output based on per barrel of oil consumed, but in 1999, economy produced about $450. 000 per barrel. This date shows the improved performance of the U. S. economy based on per barrel of oil consumed. Efficiency improvements, seeking out other energy sources have lessened the dependence of the U. S. economy on oil. Another data shows the declination of economic impact of OPEC, the U. S. economy spent more than 6 percent of GDP in crude oil in 1980 and 1981, when average price of crude oil was $28 a barrel. In 1996 to 1997, the price was $20 per barrel. But the percent of GDP spent on crude oil is less than 2 percent and 1 percent in 1998. These data indicates that oil price increases has less influenced the economy than they had in 1980s. Power of Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia’s economy heavily dependent on oil with export oil revenues accounting around 90 percent of total Saudi export earning, 70 percent of state revenues and 40 percent of the its GDP. Saudi Arabia holds the world’s largest petroleum reserves and accounts over one-third and one-half of total OPEC oil production. Saudi Arabia’s oil policy has huge influence world oil pricing. Three basics of its policy are; maintaining stability in oil markets; opposing high oil prices that might discourage demand growth or lead to a rapid rise in Non-OPEC production; maintaining its own dominant market share in the United States. Saudi Arabia has dominated the world oil market by emphasizing the market control and avoiding the new competition and maintaining the higher prices. It is true that the policy has worked well. Saudi Arabia is considered as a dominant firm while many other OPEC countries are price-takers. One thing with the problem that Saudi Arabia is a dominant firm is that its share of OPEC production rose from 24 percent in 1973 to 37 percent in 1980. So Saudi Arabia is in a better situation than other exporters. Within a considerable range of market conditions, Saudi Arabia could stabilize prices by restricting its own production and exports. Saudi Arabia also has a great ability to expand its production, and has wide political influence that reinforces the power that it derives from being the largest exporters of oil. In 1999, Saudi Arabia took a key role in coordinating campaign of OPEC and other oil-producing countries to raise the oil price to its highest level since the Gulf War by managing production and oil supply. Moreover, Saudi Arabia established the Supreme Economic Council to formulate and coordinate economic development policies for institutional reforms. Relationship to Non-OPEC Countries and Prospects: OPEC and Non OPEC countries often agree to reduce oil and gas supply to check prices. This cooperation is rather strange but since both organizations often benefit from high oil price, then each organization may be obliged to cut or increase oil production at the request of the other countries. So oil price is decided based on demand and supply to maximize the profit of producing of OPEC and Non-OPEC. OPEC supplies 40 percent to 45 percent of world’s oil supply and holds 75 percent of proven revenues and Non-OPEC countries produce 60 percent of the world oil (est. 2004). Most Non-OPEC countries have private sectors; there is little government intervention over production level. Non-OPEC productions were more vulnerable to price collapse because Non-OPEC countries’ production costs tend to be higher than OPEC costs. The production of Non-OPEC countries has declined in decades, and OPEC may be more important role to decide oil prices. However, OPEC has actual influence on price, but does not control or set the oil price directly. The world oil market itself appears to be in change of pricing and in a long term the main deciding factor will be substantially of OPEC revenues. The problem of capacity and depletion will be more significant. When oil price increases, countries start to produce more and undersell each other. The question arises as to how efficiently OPEC can implement the long –term strategy? Needless to say, we are faced with the problem â€Å"increasing demand and decreasing supply† in the world oil market. Reduction of oil production in Non-OPEC is also a burden to OPEC. OPEC member countries are aware of growing international need of renewable energy and environmental problems due to use of fossil fuels. But there is no specific alternative energy supply in the near future and there is no significant regulation to control energy consumption in the market based economy. How many people feel it an emergency? How many people know that the United State has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol? It will not take long before our demand completely exceeds the production capability of the oil countries.

woments rights essays

woments rights essays t was long ago when women were looked upon as slaves to the hard Working, man. In today's society women now are more respected and are acceptable for many jobs as men are. Yet, long before our time during World War II, women were thought many different things that they could only imagine. During the postwar, women were, then equipped with many different abilities colliding with their home chores and knowledge. Women then took their stand and many acts were passes in their favor. In this essay I shall be discussing the many different requirements women went through during World War II, their postwar abilities, and the discussion of what the men in the past had The war's demand, the war had made the proposition to the women to do the man's work (Leahy, pg.35). Women were encouraged to take these jobs for the first time in history. To some it was a shock but to many it was a divine privilege. By 1942 a poll showed that only 13% of Americans opposed women in the workforce (Leahy, pg.36). Many of them also became war nurses and helped many of the men recover. It would seem that women's interests in occupational equality were directly linked to the nation's state of distress. Many women were exceptionally well at making bombs and took the place of men. During the war women received many different opportunity and advancement in their lives. Even though there were many laws prohibiting women from working they still came through for our country (Walker, pg.2). For once women were looked at as producers and not reproducers. After the war the men had returned home and back steps began to take place with the women. In 1945, 3/4 of the women polled by the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor wished to continue working which showed their interests in the skills they possessed. During this point much frustration ran through these women for th ...

Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining Research Paper

Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining - Research Paper Example However, the health sector is more sensitive. Lives are lost when the doctors and nurses resort to industrial action. There is a lot to be said on whether it is morally right for people whose profession is to save people’s lives to be on strike. This is attributed to the fact that when they do so, they put the same lives in jeopardy (Olin, 2012). However, it must be admitted that when such a time comes, decisions have to be made by the management. The person who normally is at the sharp end of decision making at such times is the Human Resource Director. This paper shall seek to explore the alternatives available to the Human Resource director in the case that nurses at their hospital make the decision to become unionized. At the sound of it, unionization of nurses at several levels sounds like a paradox. This is because at the end of their training, they take the Hippocratic Oath which envisions a workplace where the medical service providers are to be more concerned about the well-being of their clients, more than their own. Therefore, nurses are categorized under what might be labeled as essential services. They are not expected to withdraw their services because of industrial action. However, in today’s world, pragmatism has to prevail. If the nurses fail to get what they expect they might not in turn offer the best care that their profession is intended to offer. Thus, in a way good healthcare begins with making the nurses happy, rather than the patients. This is because happy nurses will provide better services which might possibly result in better healthcare (Olin, 2012). The other important thing to note is that as much as unionization is a huge disruption to the provision of services, it is within the rights of the workers to resort to such action in the event that their grievances are not being listened to. As a Human Resource Director, the acceptance of that fact is a huge step in the

Mergers & Acquisitions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mergers & Acquisitions - Essay Example The earnings per share is 15.5p, which must be maintained. Therefore x/15.5 =8, hence x = 124p or 1 pound and 24 pence. This is the price of 1.24 pounds at which Smith plc may be valued for purpose of the merger if a P/E ratio of 8 must be achieved. On this basis, the average price of a share in a merged entity of both Amanda plc and Smith plc works out to {(1.24 + 2.40)/2} = 1.82 pounds, which is the market price that must be set for the share. In such a case, this would result in a lowering of the Amanda plc share value in the market by (2.40 – 1.82) = 0.58 pence, while in the case of Smith plc share holders, the value of their stock rises by (1.82 -1.03) = 79 pence. Therefore, it may be noted that the second option appears to be the better choice, since it entails less losses for Amanda plc shareholders and more gains for Smith plc shareholders, in terms of share values. In order to assess the earnings on the shares that can be estimated while also maintaining some growth in the next three years, it may be noted that Amanda plc is currently on a growth track but will decline in the next three years, but for Smith plc future growth prospects look good but the limitation is finances. The current rate of return on the Smith plc shares is (15.5 X 100/103) – 15%. On the basis of current earnings per share for Smith plc being 15.5 pence, if a growth rate of at least 15% is desired in 3 years with a desired rate of return of at least the current 15%, then the current fair market value should be at least 1.02 pounds. (ww.moneychimp.com). This is more or less the current value of the Smith plc stock (1.03 pounds) and a growth rate of 15% can be achieved although the PEG ratio is on the higher side. The P/E ratio in this case will be 9.7 and the PEG ratio will be 0.64. On the other hand, if a growth rate of 30% is desired with a similar 15% rate of ret urn on Smith plc stock, then the fair market value that must

See below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

See below - Essay Example This is the reason why their poetry are instructive and moralistic. It is not art for art’s sake alone but art as a social tool to teach and reach people, moving them to act and do something for the society and the nation as a whole. The following three poems from Robin Skelton’s Poetry in the Thirties will prove or disprove what Virginia Woolf says about the poetry produced during the 1930s. These are September 1, 1939 by W. H. Auden; Different by Clere Parsons; and Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines by Dylan Thomas. This nine-stanza poem of W.H. Auden is an example of what Virginia Woolf calls a poem of the 1930s that contains â€Å"the pedagogic, the didactic† and â€Å"the loud-speaker strain† calling for â€Å"the creation of a society in which everyone is equal and everyone is free.† The first stanza critiques the system as â€Å"low dishonest decade† where â€Å"The unmentionable odour of death/ Offends the September night.† Feelings of uncertainty, fear, hopelessness and anger dominate this stanza. It is a prologue to the situation that the state or society is at the moment of writing. According to the second stanza, the cause of the dilemma can be explained and be traced back to history. Evil has been committed thus the people reap what they sow: â€Å"Those to whom evil is done/ Do evil in return.† This can also be interpreted as a call to act and fight against the â€Å"evil† and the ones causing this evil. Then in stanza three, the poet/persona plunges right into the main issue: democracy; â€Å"About Democracy,/ And what dictators do.† There has been a neglect and abuse of their duty: â€Å"Analysed all in his book,/ The enlightenment driven away,/ The habit-forming pain,/ Mismanagement and grief:/ We must suffer them all again.† The past is repeated because they have not been good stewards of the freedom they had possessed. They have allowed the dictators to reign over them. Then the

On Arabian Culture Essay Example for Free

On Arabian Culture Essay The literature on social diversity and cleavages in Arab society and the Middle East as a whole suffers from several fallacies, two of which are most pertinent here. One is the tendency, particularly among Orientalists, to speak both of the mosaic nature of Arab society and of the existence of a unified mentality, or one Arab mind, without any awareness of the contradiction between these two abstractions. The other is the emphasis either on communal cleavages or on class conflicts, with the result that one becomes explanatory while the other is ignored. The interplay and coincidence of these two cleavages are rarely examined in their historical and social contexts. How can an individual define the diversity of Arab society? The diversity that characterizes Arab society needs to be analyzed within a three-dimensional framework: (a) a homogeneity-heterogeneity continuum; (b) the processes of conflict-accommodation-assimilation; and (c) social class cleavages. The continuum that covers the range from a completely homogeneous society to one of great heterogeneity encompasses a complex system of vertical loyalties and communal differentiations (ethnic, linguistic, sectarian, tribal, local, regional, and the like) that coincides as well as conflicts with social class cleavages. Arab society has historically been highly heterogeneous. Certainly, one may argue that there has recently been a resurgence of communal loyalties and mobilization, confirming the mosaic and segmentary structures of society. What cannot be granted is the static conception of these loyalties and cleavage as permanent, unchanging forms of differentiation. What is Arab society in general? The characterization of Arab society as heterogeneous, however, needs to be accompanied by an explicit clarification that not all Arab countries are similar in this respect. In fact, they differ widely in regard to their positions on the homogeneity-heterogeneity continuum. Compared to other Arab countries, Egypt and Tunisia, for instance, may be described as rather homogeneous as far as communal cleavages are concerned. These two countries tend to have fewer ethnic, religious, and tribal differences (and, hence, conflicts) than other Arab societies, and are characterized more by social complexity and social class cleavages. A second group of Arab countries, such as Lebanon and Sudan, occupy a position close to the opposite end of the continuum, each being more of a mosaic in structure and social composition. A third set, such as Syria, Algeria, Arabia, and Morocco, tend to occupy positions more in the middle of the continuum. Conventional Western literature on Arab and other Middle Eastern societies has persistently avoided any serious discussion of social class structure. Instead, it has conceived of Arab societies simply as a mosaic. At the margin of this mainstream discourse, however, there has been some occasional speculation on problems of social stratification. Whenever a discussion of this nature has taken place, it has evolved into a heated exchange. One point of view reaffirms the conclusions of the mosaic model and questions the relevance of class analysis. For instance, C. A. O. van Niewenhuijze and James Bill, in separate works, dismiss class analysis in economic terms and instead use Weberian concepts of status and power. Similarly, Iliya Harik has more recently dismissed the thesis put forward by some writers that the Lebanese civil war is actually a class struggle and expressed his â€Å"belief that class distinctions in Lebanon are too obscure to sustain the class struggle argument†. Bryan S. Turner, by contrast, has pointed out that anyone â€Å"who wants to develop a Marxist analysis of North Africa and the Middle East must start with a critique of the mosaic theory and all its related assumptions†. Such a critique, he explains, is required because mosaic analysts believe â€Å"that traditional Middle Eastern societies were not class dominated and that in the modern Middle East social class is only in the process of emerging alongside other forms of social stratification†. Nicholas S. Hopkins has applied ideas of class derived from the Marxist tradition to changes in the social structure of an agricultural town in Tunisia, concluding that essential changes in the mechanization of agriculture and in the improvement of communications â€Å"led to a shift in the organization of work away from a pattern based on mobilization of labor within the household or the extended kindred . . . and toward a pattern of labor determined by wage labor†. Consequently, this Tunisian agricultural town has shifted from a society in which rank was based â€Å"on vertical rather than on horizontal links† to one â€Å"based on class†. Hopkins argues further that not only is there class in the objective sense, â€Å"there is also class consciousness, at least in embryonic, symbolic form†. My own view is that the persistence of communal cleavages complicates rather than nullifies social class consciousness and struggle. This persistence of communal cleavages and vertical loyalties in some Arab countries is owing to the perpetuation of traditional systems in which communities are linked to their local zaims (traditional leaders) through patron-client relationships. To the extent that constructive change can be introduced in these areas, such traditional systems will give way, increasingly, to other social and class relationships. Reference: Gutas, D. (1998). Greek Thought, Arab Culture : The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early Abbasid Society (2nd-4th 8th-10th C. ): Routledge. Rejwan, N. (1998). Arabs Face the Modern World: Religious, Cultural, and Political Responses to the West: Gainesville University Press of Florida. Szarmach, P. E. (1979). Aspects of Jewish Culture in the Middle Ages: Albany State University of New York Press

Still No Equality for Women in Sports Essays -- Argumentative Persuasi

Still No Equality for Women in Sports Throughout the history of women in sports, women had to ?merge? then ?submerge? with male dominated sports organizations and structures in order to participate. The Olympic Games is a key example of women have to merge and submerge with a male dominated organization. The first modern Olympics, held in 1896, did not allow women participants. And when women were allowed to participate, in 1900, it was in only three sports and out of the 1,225 athletes, only nineteen were women. The Olympics have allowed women to ?merge?, thus enabling women to participate in the games and rise to the level that they compete at today, however women are still ?submerged? within the dominant male sport structure, as can be seen with the present imbalance of men?s and women?s events and the significantly higher number of male athletes than females. Though equal participation of male and female athletes needs to be further developed, the mere idea of female participation in organized ?male? sports is social ly and culturally significant by empowering women and breaking barriers that hinder women in all aspects of life. Women have always been regarded as the "weaker" sex and the role of the woman was always to be submissive, passive and obedient to men. With sports, women hardly had a role at all until the twentieth century. Using the Olympics as an example, female athletes were not even considered at the onset of the modern games, and when they were allowed to compete in the second games in the 1900s, their presence was not taken seriously, only nineteen women competed, and only in three sporting events: golf, archery, and tennis. However, the "merging" of women into the Olympic games has come a long way, as can... .... This problem is not one that can easily be solved. Until everyone, including women, unlearns the stereotypes, which hinder women all around the world, something as simple as women playing sports will not fully be embraced or accepted. The merging of female athletes into male sporting arenas has been a milestone in illustrating women's capabilities, but we are still only partway there. As is illustrated through the submerging of women in the Olympics, women are still not social equals to men. Countries that restrict women to the extreme still thrive and refuse to allow women to pursue sports because of the cultural beliefs, and even in democratic societies women are still not regarded as equal to men. Until the idea of equality is truly accepted by society, women's sports will always be submerged, not only on the playing field, but in the entire realm of life. Still No Equality for Women in Sports Essays -- Argumentative Persuasi Still No Equality for Women in Sports Throughout the history of women in sports, women had to ?merge? then ?submerge? with male dominated sports organizations and structures in order to participate. The Olympic Games is a key example of women have to merge and submerge with a male dominated organization. The first modern Olympics, held in 1896, did not allow women participants. And when women were allowed to participate, in 1900, it was in only three sports and out of the 1,225 athletes, only nineteen were women. The Olympics have allowed women to ?merge?, thus enabling women to participate in the games and rise to the level that they compete at today, however women are still ?submerged? within the dominant male sport structure, as can be seen with the present imbalance of men?s and women?s events and the significantly higher number of male athletes than females. Though equal participation of male and female athletes needs to be further developed, the mere idea of female participation in organized ?male? sports is social ly and culturally significant by empowering women and breaking barriers that hinder women in all aspects of life. Women have always been regarded as the "weaker" sex and the role of the woman was always to be submissive, passive and obedient to men. With sports, women hardly had a role at all until the twentieth century. Using the Olympics as an example, female athletes were not even considered at the onset of the modern games, and when they were allowed to compete in the second games in the 1900s, their presence was not taken seriously, only nineteen women competed, and only in three sporting events: golf, archery, and tennis. However, the "merging" of women into the Olympic games has come a long way, as can... .... This problem is not one that can easily be solved. Until everyone, including women, unlearns the stereotypes, which hinder women all around the world, something as simple as women playing sports will not fully be embraced or accepted. The merging of female athletes into male sporting arenas has been a milestone in illustrating women's capabilities, but we are still only partway there. As is illustrated through the submerging of women in the Olympics, women are still not social equals to men. Countries that restrict women to the extreme still thrive and refuse to allow women to pursue sports because of the cultural beliefs, and even in democratic societies women are still not regarded as equal to men. Until the idea of equality is truly accepted by society, women's sports will always be submerged, not only on the playing field, but in the entire realm of life.