افتتح هذا العمود لطرح الافكار المختلفه حول ما يتعلق بالسياسه الامريكيه النفطيه في الشرق الاوسط , املا في توجيه الانتباه الى هذا المجال الحيوي
ادناه مقال لكاتب عربي امريكي كتب قبل اكثر من عشره سنوت , اجد فيه بعض الاهميه
U.S. Oil Policy in the Middle East
Volume 2, Number 4
January 1997
Written by Mamoun Fandy of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. Author of “Middle East Resources for Education and Action,” Worldviews (January-March 1996).
Editors: Tom Barry (IRC) and Martha Honey (IPS)
http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol2/v2n4oil_body.html
QUOTE
The U.S. became painfully aware of the need for a new oil policy after the oil shocks of 1973-75 and 1978-80. In 1973, the per-barrel price of Saudi light crude was $2.41. With the Arab oil embargo it quickly rose to $10.73. Then, beginning in 1978, the price of a barrel of crude shot up from $13.34 to $32.81. Since then the U.S. has been publicly committed to reducing dependence on foreign oil. However, despite repeated promises by both Democratic and Republican presidents, the U.S. has actually increased that dependence.
Instead of trying to wean the country from Gulf oil, Washington has focused on military-strategic efforts to ensure dominance in the oil region. However, its major approach, dual containment, is fundamentally flawed. Its stated purpose is to protect the flow of reasonably priced oil, yet it was imposed when oil prices were plummeting and the oil states were frustrated because of a glut on the market. In this sense, the large U.S. military presence in the Gulf, supposedly preventing Iran and Iraq from threatening oil supplies, is unnecessary. Furthermore, the current U.S. military presence has negative political consequences for the stability of the oil regimes, as seen in the latest attacks on the U.S. military installation in Saudi Arabia.
Instead of trying to wean the country from Gulf oil, Washington has focused on military-strategic efforts to ensure dominance in the oil region. However, its major approach, dual containment, is fundamentally flawed. Its stated purpose is to protect the flow of reasonably priced oil, yet it was imposed when oil prices were plummeting and the oil states were frustrated because of a glut on the market. In this sense, the large U.S. military presence in the Gulf, supposedly preventing Iran and Iraq from threatening oil supplies, is unnecessary. Furthermore, the current U.S. military presence has negative political consequences for the stability of the oil regimes, as seen in the latest attacks on the U.S. military installation in Saudi Arabia.
Big Shift in China's Oil Policy
With Iraq Deal Dissolved by War, Beijing Looks Elsewhere
By Peter S. Goodman
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, July 13, 2005;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1201546_pf.html
QUOTE
Iraq changed the government's thinking," said Pan Rui, an international relations expert at Fudan University in Shanghai. "The Middle East is China's largest source of oil. America is now pursuing a grand strategy, the pursuit of American hegemony in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is the number one oil producer, and Iraq is number two [in terms of reserves]. Now, the United States has direct influence in both countries."
Many other factors help explain China's motives in dispatching its energy companies abroad for new stocks. Oil demand is exploding in China as people embrace automobiles and as factories, apartment towers and office buildings proliferate. For the third summer in a row, China is rationing energy, limiting production in industrial areas.
In little more than a decade, China has changed from a net exporter of oil into the world's second-largest importer, trailing only the United States.
Many other factors help explain China's motives in dispatching its energy companies abroad for new stocks. Oil demand is exploding in China as people embrace automobiles and as factories, apartment towers and office buildings proliferate. For the third summer in a row, China is rationing energy, limiting production in industrial areas.
In little more than a decade, China has changed from a net exporter of oil into the world's second-largest importer, trailing only the United States.