OPEC'S POLICY OF OIL PRICE DEFENSE AND THE CURRENT MARKET WEAKNESS

By Dr. Fadhil Al-Chalabi

(The following is an edited version - published with the permission of the author - of an extemporaneous speech delivered by Dr. Fadhil Al-Chalabi, the Deputy Secretary General of OPEC, at the Oxford Energy Seminar on 12 September 1985.)

Prior to the tumultuous events of 1979-80 OPEC was the only force in the market which decided upon the price of oil. Other operators in the market accepted the...