Ever since the first major round of oil price adjustments in 1973-74, customers have assumed that oil producing countries have been profiteering at their expense. Among drivers waiting in line at a filling station, for example, the belief is well-nigh unshakeable. Each extra centime, lira or pfennig per liter just serves as a reminder that OPEC is to blame for the ever-rising prices paid by the end-user. But is it? Might it be that both the oil producer and the end-user are being pipped at the pumps by someone else?
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