ABSTRACT
The Arab oil producers had no legal right to dictate an embargo to the oil companies unless they chose to exercise the authority inherent in their political power as sovereign, independent nations. Phenomenal political, social, and economic developments in the Middle East presented the Arab governments with further cause for dissatisfaction with the concession agreements. With petroleum's role becoming more vital in international politics, the Arab oil-producing governments began to feel the need to coordinate their oil policies in order to get a bigger share of the oil income. The friction between the producer governments and the oil companies gave more power to the national demand for more Arab oil coordination and more Arab control over the oil industry. Organization of Arab Petroleum-Exporting Countries had then to accommodate a new, hot-tempered revolutionary regime eager to press for changes and anxious to assert itself in the Arab world.
