ABSTRACT
During the mid-1970s, the oil-rich members of the OAPEC countries were one huge construction site.l Spurred by burgeoning oil revenues and ambitious development plans, they were willing to buy virtually anything at any price on one condition; they wanted it quickly. For Western contractors, this amounted to a gold-rush. Inflated bids were readily accepted, ports were jammed by fleets of imported materials and equipment, and controls and regulations were unable to keep pace with the erection of new buildings. Between 1974 and 1977, government expenditures on projects were growing at an average rate of US $34 million per day. Expenditures on hard construction alone jumped from US $7,000 million in 1973 to US $42,000 million in 1977.
