ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the large and relatively inflexible extent of the NOPECs' dependence upon oil imported from OPEC. A consequence of the rise of oil prices is that NOPECs now run much larger trade deficits with the OPEC members than was the case prior to the oil price rise. The NOPECs' dependence upon imported energy, even several years after the oil price increases of the early 1970s, stems from several factors. Regarding the physical constraints, the choice of energy sources other than oil is restricted in many ldcs. The oil exporters took over control of oil export prices by colluding to some extent within OPEC itself, but developing country based cartels exist in no other commodity markets. Many primary commodities are priced on free international markets which are from time to time subjected to fluctuations in demand from both speculative and final user sources.
