ASSESSMENT OF OPEC’S OIL PRICING POLICY FROM 1970 TO 2000

摘要

In this paper, a simple economical assessment of OPEC's oil pricing policy from 1970 to 2000 is conducted. In the analysis, fluctuations of the oil price in the US Dollars against other major currencies and their influences on the generated revenues are determined. The oil pricing policy during that period is compared with two baskets of currencies, which are proposed in order to explore the most advantageous scenario. The calculated results indicated that OPEC members could have achieved a total current savings of at least $170 billions Dollars if the price of oil was linked to a basket of currencies from 1970 to 2000. These savings are approximately equivalent to the revenues generated in at least 1 year of OPEC's average rate of oil production and export.