ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a discussion of the various oil market forecasts that have recently been put forward by the world's oil experts. All the various indicators — non- Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries oil sources, alternative energy sources, improvements in energy efficiency, conservation measures and strategic reserve levels — point to positive trends for the future. Clearly, forecasters have come a long way from their pessimistic predictions of the 1970s, when they anticipated an ever-increasing gap between runaway oil consumption and diminishing oil stocks. One such forecast was the US Central Intelligence Agency's 1977 prediction of a sharp rise in oil prices and increasing dependence on Middle Eastern oil. Similarly Zvi Dinstein, chairman of Israel's Oil Institute, in his article, "The Confrontation between the West and the Arab Oil Producers and Its Influence on Israel," published in the I977 Israel Industrial Yearbook, described a gloomy outlook for Israel and the world.
