VOL. XLVI

No 38

22-September-2003

OPEC

OPEC: At The Crossroads Again?

By Nordine Ait Laoussine

The following is the text of a paper presented by Nordine Ait-Laoussine at the 25th Oxford Energy Seminar on 11 September. Mr Ait-Laoussine is President of the Geneva-based consulting firm Nalcosa and former Energy Minister of Algeria.

Introduction

In its never ending pursuit of oil market stability since the early 1980s, OPEC has, at times, followed a price defence strategy, through production management...