OPEC Countries

In the Persian Gulf, Abu Dhabi has started to build Masdar City, a minimunicipality of 50,000, which will be car-free and will be shaded by solar 

While this is the largest renewable energy project in the world, it is small compared to the 150 billion investment which the 13 OPEC countries will make in new oil projects through 2012. 

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Table 1.2, based on Modern Plastics sources, provides USA consumption figures (based on sales data) for the main groups of plastics materials. The figures probably underestimate the global importance of the major tonnage thermoplastics since these are also manufactured in quantity in developing countries and OPEC countries. 

Others affirm the superiority of direct hydrogen, but feel that liquid fuels such as methanol are the answer for the near future. If methanol is used directly, there has to be an onboard reformer and a revised infrastructure to deliver it. But methanol does have some advantages. There is excess generating capacity, and it s the least expensive fuel to transport. Some 70% of the world s oil is in OPEC countries, and 65% of it is in the Persian Gulf. If we switch to methanol, which is produced from natural gas, we can diminish that dependency. 

Furthermore, 75% of these fossil-based resources are concentrated in a few OPEC countries and, under these circumstances, oil prices are more likely to remain unstable and are now hovering around US 123/barrel. It is estimated that the price of crude oil is likely to exceed US 170/barrel by the end of the year 2010. This situation cannot be sustained. The development of alternative energy resources will help stabilize oil prices and improve the security of energy supply for non-oil producing nations. The development and production of liquid bio-flxels, which has been ongoing since the oil crises of 1973, should contribute towards the attainment of this goal. 

Prior to 1973, there was a surplus supply of crude oil in the United States. To avoid overproduction with the concomitant depression in the price of crude oil, the Texas Railroad Commission controlled the level of production of oil wells in Texas (other states had similar regulations). This provided some stability in cmde oil pricing. However, in 1973, it became apparent to the oil ministers of OPEC countries that oil-importing countries could not do without the Middle... 

General Comments About the OPEC Countries. Through the years since the formation of OPEC, oil prices have provided these nations, particularly those in the Mideast, with adequate capital to fund large and sophisticated petrochemical complexes and downstream facilities. The governments of most of these countries have been active in pursuing such development for a variety of reasons ... 

In a number of OPEC countries there is a limited market, although this is rapidly changing. Large quantities of chemicals would have to be exported and sold in foreign markets. Personnel to market and develop markets for their products as well as those to handle the business aspects are being educated and trained abroad. 

Certain OPEC countries, like Libya and other Persian Gulf countries, lack large quantities of fresh water for major petrochemical complexes. This problem is slowly being overcome with desalination plants similar to those in Saudi Arabia. 

Some 70% of the world s oil is in OPEC countries, and 65% of it is in the Persian Gulf. If we switch to methanol, which is produced from natural gas, we can diminish that dependency. 

The following Table 3.1 compares crude oil extraction levels in OPEC countries in 1999. From the Table, it can be seen that Saudi Arabia is the largest crude oil producer among the OPEC countries. It must be emphasized that Saudi Arabia also extracts more crude oil than any other country in the world. 

There was recently a very difficult situation in the world petroleum market. The prices for petroleum had fallen to less than 10 dollars per barrel for the first time in a long time. OPEC countries wanted to see an increase of even up to 30 dollars per barrel. With this in mind, it became necessary to reduce the export of petroleum to the world market, even though each country did not want to do so at the expense of its overall export. 

The 1970s saw the great petroleum crisis that was to have serious effects on the world s economy. British Petroleum lost direct access to most of its supplies of OPEC oil as the OPEC countries took control of production and prices. 

We face three major problems as a consequence of our dependence on fossil fuels for energy. First, fossil fuels are a nonrenewable resource and the world s supply is continually decreasing. Second, a group of Middle Eastern and South American countries controls a large portion of the world s supply of petroleum. These countries have formed a cartel known as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC), which controls both the supply and the price of crude oil. Political instability in any OPEC country can seriously affect the world oil supply. Third, burning fossil fuels increases the concentrations of CO2 and SO2 in the atmosphere. Scientists have established experimentally that... 

OECD). Two-thirds of the world s remaining oil reserves are located within member nations of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) (ElA 2003b). Natural gas reserves follow a similar distribution pattern. Only 10% of the world reserves are located in OECD nations. The rest is located mainly in OPEC countries (just under one-half) and Russia (one-third) (ElA 2003b). Coal reserves, however, are more plentiful, and distributed in other parts of the world. Approximately three-quarters of the world s coal reserves are found in North America, Asia, Oceania, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union (EIA 2003b). 

While oil has become a globally traded commodity, with prices subject to overall supply and demand, small changes in overall supply or even concerns about potential threats to supply can significantly affect prices. And while OPEC countries do not set prices, they do have tremendous market power, largely because oil demand is relatively unresponsive to changes in price. Economists define the overall responsiveness of demand to price changes as the "elasticity of demand." An elasticity of —1.0 means that for a 10% increase in price, demand decreases by 10%. 

As of 2006, the only country with any excess oil capacity was Saudi Arabia. According to the US Department of Energy, production in most non-OPEC countries is controlled by the private sector. "Private companies do not hold back profitable production, and maintain very little spare production capacity. Hence, in the case of a significant world oil production disruption, OPEC (rather than private oil companies) would be the primary immediate source of additional oil to displace the loss,"... 

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