In Oil's New Era, Power Shifts To Countries With Reserves

[Anonymous]

A Wall Street Journal story available
in its entirety on the Pittsburgh Post
Gazette website:

"There is more to today's oil crunch than temporary jolts to supply and demand. What is also roiling the energy world is an enduring shift in the balance of power between the fuel-guzzling West and oil-rich developing countries.

"Since World War II, the industrialized world has relied on stable and affordable supplies of crude to fuel economic growth. The U.S., Europe and Japan together needed more oil than they could produce. The developing world had plenty of oil, but little use for it and few alternative markets. So industrialized countries tapped the cheap resources of poor ones.

"Now this mutual dependency is unraveling and a new order is taking shape, turning the tables on America, its allies and other big energy consumers. Major exporting nations have concluded that they have more leverage than ever before over consuming countries.

"Two forces are behind this change. The accelerating industrialization of the billion-person economies of China and India means that global energy demand is likely to keep growing rapidly for years to come. And just as important, the world's top crude-producing countries are keeping a tighter grip on their spigots."

The complete text is here:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06165/698172-28.stm

Dave