Title: The war over the price of oil: oil and the conflict on the Persian Gulf

Authors: Ole Gunnar Austvik

Addresses: Norwegian School of Management (BI), 1301 Sandvika, Norway Oppland College (Oppland DH), PO Box 1004, 2601 Lillehammer, Norway

Abstract: Iraq|s invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 was called the biggest armed robbery in history. From an economic and natural resource point of view, however, disagreements as to what price policy to pursue for oil might have been an even more important reason for the invasion. In the same way vital economic interests, that wanted moderate oil prices, were an important reason why the allied forces, led by the US, went to war against Iraq on January 1991. In view of the importance of the price of oil for the economies of both oil exporting and importing countries, the power to influence this price is of great significance. The more one-sidedly dependent a country is on oil in the economy the more important it is who has this power. In the Gulf conflict, the oil producing and consuming countries for which oil is very important, and that also have major military means, were the principal actors.

Keywords: Iraqi-Kuwaiti conflict; oil prices; foreign policy; Gulf war; Persian Gulf.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGEI.1993.063638

International Journal of Global Energy Issues, 1993 Vol.5 No.2/3/4, pp.134-143

Published online: 17 Jul 2014 *

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