[MEMRI] Nimrod Raphaeli - After oil prices reached a high of $147 a barrel in July, prices plummeted to below $55 a barrel in mid-November. Some countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE have deep pockets and can survive the dip in revenues. In other countries, particularly Iran and Iraq, oil shocks could trigger serious economic dislocation. Iran, the second largest oil producer among OPEC members, is likely to feel the pain of declining oil prices more severely than any other oil-producing country in the Middle East. Iran's price stabilization fund, which was to receive windfall profits to be used when oil revenues decline, has been nearly depleted as a result of poorly managed economic policies by the regime of President Ahmadinejad.
2008-11-20 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive