Putin Hints Russia Will Clip Israel’s Wings Over Syrian Skies

[leveymg]

36. CIA, the Seven Sisters, the major TV networks certainly did make an example of Carter.

Last edited Fri Oct 2, 2015, 07:56 AM - Edit history (1)

I remember the "Iran oil shortage" which was neither. At the time, the Energy Dept. showed available crude oil supplies in storage inside the US during the "crisis" greater than at any time in a three year period.

The long lines at the pump was actually a shutdown of domestic refineries and intermediary gasoline distributors withholding product from the retail market. The Networks also did their part by creating a consumer panic. Gasoline prices doubled and tripled. Indeed, the price shock at the pump drove US consumption down sharply. After initial panic buying spurred by a perception of shortage, crude oil imports plummeted from a peak of 9m bbl/day in 1977 to a low of 5 m bbl/day in 1982.

The Saudis took the opportunity after 1981 by reducing production to maintain high spot market prices. Saudi oil production steadily increased after 1974 reaching a ten year peak in 1981 of 10m bbl/day, but production plunged dropping to a bottom in 1985 of a mere 4 m bbl/day in, rising again thereafter, finally recovering its previous high in 1993. https://books.google.com/books?id=w9qF5xuVA74C&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=Saudi+oil+production+1979-81&source=bl&ots=UsNpTDwfHK&sig=IdGJibbu2qlKUwWV7hjYd2ukZ1w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAWoVChMIg5Xg6fGhyAIVRNk-Ch3mJwAX#v=onepage&q=Saudi%20oil%20production%201979-81&f=false

But, that is not the conventional story, which blames high prices on the Iranian revolution. The political narrative pinned the resulting price spike on Carter.

Later Saudi cuts in production matched those in Iran during the revolution taking a further plunge after Iraq and Iran restored some production in 1982, but by then world prices had tripled. The Saudis ended up making more by exporting less.

http://www.wtrg.com/prices.htm
The Iranian revolution was the proximate cause of the highest price in post-WWII history. However, revolution's impact on prices would have been limited and of relatively short duration had it not been for subsequent events. In fact, shortly after the revolution, Iranian production was up to four million barrels per day.

In September 1980, Iran already weakened by the revolution was invaded by Iraq. By November, the combined production of both countries was only a million barrels per day. It was down 6.5 million barrels per day from a year before. As a consequence, worldwide crude oil production was 10 percent lower than in 1979.

The loss of production from the combined effects of the Iranian revolution and the Iraq-Iran War caused crude oil prices to more than double. The nominal price went from $14 in 1978 to $35 per barrel in 1981.