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Europe and
Japan
are
tied to oil
from
the
Middle East
-
an
area fraught with
tension. What might
occur if
Miclclle East
nations or the Soviet
Union prevent
pre–
cious
oil
from
reach–
ing either Europe or
Japan?
by
Paul Kroll
O
IL MAKES
the world go round.
And since oil makes the
world go round, a few not-so
powerful nations could literally stop the
world. How? By shutting dowo oi l
.wells, blowing up pipelines, stopping
tankers from delivering their oil-filled
hulks to customers.
The nations in this stop-the-world
drama are, in alphabetical order: Abu
Dhabi, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Ku–
wait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria aod a
few desert sheikdoms. Sorne of these
nations perch atop multiple billions of
barreis of oil or sit astride the access
routes to the oil glutted countries.
Vital Middle
East
Oil
Although the Middle East is impor–
tant to the United States because of
massive U. S. overseas oil holdings, it is
not a matter of industrial life
oc
death.
Only threc
or
four percent of America's
oil requiremcnts come from that area.
The massive U.
S.
industrial machine can
override any oil blackmail or blockage.
This, with other factors, could lead
to American disinterest in the Middlc
East -
an al
tit11de u•hich could result
in fataL comer¡11ences fo,. the area.
Taconi•·Mognum Photo