Organization Of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries Research Articles

Randomized greedy algorithm for helicopter optimization in the energy industry: a practical approach to model development and solution deliverance

Randomized greedy algorithm for helicopter optimization in the energy industry: a practical approach to model development and solution deliverance

The 1975 Congressional Feasibility Study on “Oil Fields as Military Objectives”: U.S.–Saudi Arabian relations and the repercussions of the 1973 Oil Crisis

ABSTRACTThe Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) members’ decision in October 1973 to impose an oil embargo upon the United States was a historic turning point. Although the embargo against the United States was lifted in March 1974, the potential threat of a new embargo continued to shadow U.S.–Saudi relations. In response, Washington developed serious contingency plans. The article analyzes the factors that led the U.S. Congress in 1975 to commission a feasibility study entitled Oil Fields as Military Objectives, and attempts to answer how effective the threat of military occupation of the oil fields and the commissioning of the study itself actually were in “persuading” Saudi Arabia to end contemplating imposing a second embargo.

Economic Cooperation between India and Bahrain: Performance and Prospects

70 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XLI, No.1, Fall 2017 Economic Cooperation between India and Bahrain: Performance and Prospects Muhammad Azhar* Two and half decades of uninterrupted and sustained economic reforms have transformed the Indian economy into the world’s fastest growing economy in recent years. During 2014 Indian economy grew by 7.3 percent.1 Since the slowdown in Chinese economy, India has overtaken the Chinese economy. India ranks at the 9th position in the global economy and generates 2.6 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.2 Thus India has been fast becoming the land of economic opportunities. India is rich in mineral resources. But the hydrocarbon resources are very small as compared to her requirements. Rising growth and expanding economy has resulted in substantial rise in the demand for oil and gas. This in turn has necessitated in ever increasing imports of oil and gas mostly from the gulf countries. India has second largest population and the second largest labour force in the world.3 It has also vast reserves of skilled workforce. Millions of Indian expatriates’ workers are employed in gulf countries including Bahrain. And these workers are very important source of massive *Muhammad Azhar is Professor (Economics) at the Department of West Asian and North African Studies, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (India). He obtained his M.Phil and Ph.D from Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi. His area of interest includes energy economics, finance, economic, trade cooperation and research and methodology. He has contributed several articles in various international and national journals. Prior to joining A.M.U., Muhammad Azhar worked as Reader at the Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. he worked as a Research Associate at the Gulf Studies Program, Centre of West Asian and African Studies, School of International Studies, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi. he also worked as Consultant at Indian Council of Research in International Economic Relations, New Delhi. 1 “IMF says India Still Fastest-Growing Economy”, The Economic Times, New Delhi, 12 April, 2016, p.11 2 World Development Indicators Database, World Bank, Washington, (accessed on 17 February, 2016). 3 Ibid. 71 remittance earnings for India. It must be mentioned that India is the largest remittance earning country in the world.4 As far as Bahrain is concerned, it is smallest among the member countries of Gulf Cooperation Council. However, it is also a rich country in terms of history, culture and economy. It has been the seat of the ancient civilization of Dilmun. In the ancient times it used to serve as a trading link between Indus Valley Civilization and Mesopotamia.5 Prior to the discovery of oil, the main economic activities concentrated on fishing, boat making and repairing, exploring and trading pearls, diving and some agricultural and commercial activities.6 Bahrain had been first among the Arab countries to discover oil in 1932.7 Consequent to the discovery of oil and its exports, Bahraini economy was thoroughly transformed. Since then all economic development in Bahrain depended on oil export revenues.8 However, Bahrain has very small oil reserves and also some gas reserves. Bahrain’s oil & gas reserves have been estimated at 0.01 percent and 0.05 percent of the global oil and gas reserves respectively.9 Bahrain is a member of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). In contrast to its neighbours, oil reserves in Bahrain are estimated to exhaust very soon. This is why Bahrain exports very little of crude oil. It exports refined oil and other petroleum products. The exhaustive nature of oil reserves was never out of sight for the Bahraini planners. This is why Bahrain launched its economic diversification program very early and prepared for the post oil era. Bahrain has been developing other sectors of the economy to reduce its dependence on oil revenues.10 The aluminum industry has been crucial in Bahrain’s diversification strategy. Bahrain has 4 www.worldbank.org/prospects/migration and remittances (accessed on 01.02.2016) 5 John H. Neidercorn, “A Reconstruction of the Pre-History of Bahrain, the Landing Place of Noah”, in Jeffery B. Nugent and Theodore H. Thomas (Ed...

Economic Cooperation between India and the United Arab Emirates in the 1990s

India is a vast country of economic opportunities. Its population and labour force is next only to China's. India has a population of about 1 billion.1 Its labour force is estimated to be 450 million. It has a large resource base and a large skilled labour force. During 1999 India's exports to the world amounted to $39.2 billion whereas its imports from all over the world in 1999 were estimated at $45 billion.2 India's gross international reserves had reached $33.0 billion by 1999. Since the beginning of the 1990s India has embarked on an ambitious and continuous liberalization and reform of its economy. This resulted in its gross domestic product growing at the rate of over 6 per cent annually during the decade of 1990-99. As far as gross national product is concerned, with a $442.2 billion of GNP in 1999, India ranks 11th in the world. During 1998-99 India's GNP grew by about 7 per cent 3. Thus having a large human resource base, a wide market and a growing economy, India offers unlimited opportunities of economic cooperation. Compared with India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a small country in size and population. However, the UAE is an important member of the organization of Gulf Cooperation Council states. Like other members of the council the UAE maintains a high level of per capita income and is counted among the wealthy nations. Also, the size of UAE trade is quite substantial. During 1999 UAE exports amounted to $28.2 billion whereas its imports were over $33.1 billion.4 Much of the prosperity that the UAE enjoys has been from oil exports. The economic policies, since the oil revenue inflow started, were geared for maximum utilization of these revenues for building the UAE as a modern economy. The UAE's reserves of oil and gas amount to be about 10 per cent and 4 per cent of global oil and gas reserves, respectively.5 The UAE has also been an active member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). At the present rate of production, the UAE's oil reserves are expected to last for more than 100 years.6 Oil production and exports are the most important

The Role of Multinational Oil Companies in World Energy Trade

During and after the 1973-1974 oil crisis, it appeared to some observers in the importing countries that multinational oil companies were contributing to the success of the exporting countries. Political leaders from many importing countries claimed that the major oil companies supported the oil embargo by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) and the oil price increases of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). To counter OAPEC and OPEC, the governments of several importing countries intensified their efforts to bring the oil companies under national control. Canada, Great Britain, Norway, and the U.S., for instance, imposed price controls, trade restrictions, and other measures to reduce the autonomy of the companies. In addition, in the U.S., several legislators introduced bills to sever or circumvent supposed company ties to the exporting countries. The future role of the companies may be significantly different from their past role, and will be determined by the relative strengths and interests of the three main groups of market participants. To the extent that multinational oil companies are strong or flexible enough to operate independently from exporting and importing-country pressures, the behavior of the companies will reflect their own interests and the structure of themore » international petroleum industry. To the extent that the interests of the multinational oil companies coincide with or can be made to coincide with the interests of the exporting or importing countries, the companies will operate in ways that benefit nations on one side or the other of the international petroleum market. Accordingly, this review examines the relative strengths and interests of multinational companies, exporting countries, and importing countries from the perspective of each in turn. 13 tables, 1 figure, 36 references.« less