With the global economy heading towards a severe oil crunch probably by 2015 or thereabouts, an analysis of Saudi oil fundamentals is causing the world disquiet and worry bordering on panic. Oil-importing nations have long treated Saudi Arabia as an infinitely deep well of crude oil supplies....

Does OPEC still matter? How do OPEC and non-OPEC oil production, global oil demand, and the role of oil as a financial asset influence oil prices? What is the mechanism through which China affects oil prices? These questions reveal the need for a better understanding of oil market dynamics. Our...

The question is examined whether OPEC is in a position to collect a risk premium to effectively insure others against a macroeconomic downturn, which may, in turn, result from a rise in the price of crude oil. Contingent exchange is modeled such that parties whose consumption is elastic with...

I maximize present valued world GDP over the stockpile of petroleum used to contain price shocks administered by OPEC. Long run price elasticity of demand and non-OPEC supply exceed those in the short run, so OPEC profits from sudden, as opposed to gradual, increases in price. These shocks...

This paper estimates a dynamic model of the world oil market and tests whether OPEC countries colluded and whether non-OPEC countries behaved oligopolistically over the period 1970-2004. Results of the analysis by decade support OPEC countries colluding as the dominant cartel producer and...

The flame of oil is not eternal. The horizon carries all signs of peak oil. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude oil producer and exporter risks becoming an oil importer probably by 2025 if current economic, demographic and security trends continue into the future. Saudi oil production...

Peak oil demand has become the hot new topic for oil market analysts but as always, runs the risk of being subject to superficial analysis, just as peak oil supply was. The primary arguments come from climate change activists who believe fossil fuel consumption must drop sharply and from...

The authors demonstrate that the United States profits handsomely in all circumstances by imposing an embargo on imports of foreign crude oil. The US removes its exposure to foreign oil supply shocks and recovers deadweight lost producers surplus. The embargo plan will lead to greater domestic...

Following the peak in US crude oil production 30 years ago, more and more non-OPEC producers have seen their production decline as a result of resource depletion. OPEC on the other hand has extracted a comparatively smaller proportion of its reserve base. Given that new non-OPEC discoveries are...

I examine evidence for a recent acceleration in the impact of technological change in the extraction of oil and natural gas on OPEC, associated with hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. I estimate world demand for and non OPEC supply of crude oil simultaneously, representing...