A summit of the MB>13 OPEC countries begins tomorrow in Riyadh, the third in the organization's 47-year history, although OPEC oil ministers meet regularly at their headquarters in Vienna. The first OPEC summit was in 1975, when the leaders gathered in Algiers to discuss the world crisis they triggered by sharply raising oil prices. The next summit was held in Caracas in 2000 at the initiative of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Oil cost $10 per barrel then, and the influential publication predicted that its price would never rise more than $5 above that.
Chavez has long talked about turning the oil producing cartel into a political organization. That was his goal when he called a summit seven years ago. Personal conflicts among the leaders thwarted his ambition then. Now they are meeting in a more cordial atmosphere, at the peak of power as the West panics over oil prices that are approaching $100 per barrel. The 13 leaders – Chavez, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, the monarchs of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait and the presidents of Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Angola, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq – have little in common besides oil, and perhaps the desire to throw their weight around on the international stage.
The United States tested the OPEC waters ahead of the summit when Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman officially requested that the cartel raise its production quotas, saying that a lack of oil on the market is responsible for the high prices. The American official is going to be disappointed, as the prevailing opinion in the organization, even among “doves” such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, is that there is enough oil on the market and the prices are the result mostly of the weak dollar, American foreign policy and increasing demand from India and China.
In general, the purpose of the summit is for the countries to position themselves as an alternative force to the G8 and rich patrons of poor Third World nations. While not all members may be keen on Chavez's Bolivarianism, which he will urge again at this summit, they are all certain to spend two days smiling at each other, G8 style.
Chavez has long talked about turning the oil producing cartel into a political organization. That was his goal when he called a summit seven years ago. Personal conflicts among the leaders thwarted his ambition then. Now they are meeting in a more cordial atmosphere, at the peak of power as the West panics over oil prices that are approaching $100 per barrel. The 13 leaders – Chavez, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, the monarchs of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait and the presidents of Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Angola, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq – have little in common besides oil, and perhaps the desire to throw their weight around on the international stage.
The United States tested the OPEC waters ahead of the summit when Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman officially requested that the cartel raise its production quotas, saying that a lack of oil on the market is responsible for the high prices. The American official is going to be disappointed, as the prevailing opinion in the organization, even among “doves” such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, is that there is enough oil on the market and the prices are the result mostly of the weak dollar, American foreign policy and increasing demand from India and China.
In general, the purpose of the summit is for the countries to position themselves as an alternative force to the G8 and rich patrons of poor Third World nations. While not all members may be keen on Chavez's Bolivarianism, which he will urge again at this summit, they are all certain to spend two days smiling at each other, G8 style.
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