| Unless you've been living under a rock for the last 20 | | | | that had made it possible for Israel to withstand |
| years, you probably have heard about OPEC. OPEC | | | | Egyptian and Syrian forces. The 1973 oil embargo |
| is an acronym for Organization of Petroleum Exporting | | | | ensued. |
| Countries. Twelve countries - Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, | | | | But oil that is pumped out of the ground must be |
| Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the | | | | stored - or used. By the 1980s, there was an oil glut. |
| United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela make up the | | | | There was more oil available than there was demand |
| membership of the cartel. | | | | for it, and the price of oil began to take a nose dive. |
| The developed world runs on oil, so it's easy to see | | | | Exports declined, and so did the money. The members |
| that oil (or rather, the production and exportation of oil) | | | | of OPEC were not happy campers. |
| can be used as a very effective weapon. And it has | | | | But as I said, oil is the fuel that runs the world. The |
| been. And it likely will be again. | | | | excess of supply didn't last long. Oil prices fluctuate, but |
| The Arab-Israeli conflict contributes to the problem. | | | | OPEC isn't totally responsible. Oil is traded as a |
| After the Six-Day War in 1967, OPEC was | | | | commodity on stock exchanges and investors can |
| transformed into a political force, and a formidable | | | | drive the price up by bidding on what's called "futures." |
| political force at that. It was the Yom Kippur War of | | | | This is the main cause of the high price of gasoline that |
| 1973 that brought things to a head. Arab countries | | | | American consumers were paying during 2008. |
| were furious over the emergency resupply efforts | | | | |