The International Oil Companies in Developing Countries Ii. Importers and Minor Producers

Outside the major crude-oil exporting countries the developing countries have varied interests in the operations of the international oil Companies. A broad common denominator is provided by their desire to minimize the costs of their oil supplies, usually with special reference to the foreign-exchange cost, ¹ and where possible to develop domestic crude-oil supplies. A large number of countries produce some crude oil, a few are self-sufficient and several earn a large amount of their foreign exchange from exports. But even countries that are largely self-sufficient, like Egypt for example, must often import certain qualities of crude oil or products to meet their domestic requirements.