VOL. XXXII

NO. 2

17-OCTOBER-1988

MUST THE OIL INDUSTRY BE CARTELIZED?

by

Martin Orlean. Joe Roeber Associates

(Martin Orlean is senior associate of Joe Roeber Associates, the independentoil consultants. This paper is based on a talk given in September to the IEA'soil markets seminar.)

It is sometimes said that the oil industry is unique in its need for, andtendency spontaneously to evolve, forms of central management. This thesis isput forward as some sort of natural law, said to be derived from a...