The impact of the Gulf crisis on world oil and OPEC

The 1990-91 Gulf conflict involved oil as a major factor or significant objective from the viewpoint of all countries involved. Low oil prices, favored by Kuwait, limited Iraqi revenues. Iraq pressed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to raise oil prices, leading to tensions with Kuwait, with which Iraq also had long-standing territorial claims. The desire to protect access to the world's largest oil supplies was a factor in the USA's rapid reaction to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. The initial response was an embargo on exports from Iraq and occupied Kuwait; this removed from the world oil market an estimated 4.5-5 million bbl/d. Although the spot price of oil rose to $27/bbl two weeks after the invasion, the market had significant supply-side flexibility. Major increases in output from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates almost entirely compensated for the lost production, stopping the upward movement of oil prices. These peaked in September 1990, stabilized, and fell dramatically in January 1991. The fall was helped by speculator selloffs, the perception that Iraq would soon be defeated under the recently begun air attacks, and the USA decision to sell from its strategic reserves. One effect of the crisis was a disturbance of output distribution among OPEC members; the Saudis and Emirates were unwillling to give up higher output levels to accommodate the return of Kuwait, thus making OPEC production quotas more difficult to achieve. Another effect was an increase in the political dependence of the Arab Gulf countries on the Western powers, particularly the USA, as the only credible guarantor of regional security. This further inhibits moves by OPEC to control oil prices or production