ABSTRACT
The radical Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members were greatly agitated over the dollar serving as the basis for payment for oil and demanded a change. After the overwhelming achievement of OPEC members in the October and December 1973 unilateral and unprecedented oil price increases, which only whetted their appetites, a race began toward total takeover of the oil-production phase of the industry. Although the OPEC secretary-general and the Saudi Arabian oil minister had fully explained in October 1971 why the participation demand should be limited to 25 percent, Kuwait rejected the 25 percent agreement. After Libya nationalized 51 percent of the assets of the independent oil companies in its territory, the companies formed a united resistance front and refused to comply with the demand. For a better appreciation of developments in OPEC after the 1973-1974 oil crisis, the role and policies of Saudi Arabia must be clearly understood.
