An article in the July issue of Penthouse magazine charges that control of oil prices and supplies by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is supported by U.S. business interests which benefit from high foreign oil prices.
According to the article, “The Petro-Industrial Complex,” by Craig S. Karpel, identified by a Penthouse spokesperson as a free-lance journalist who researched the field, OPEC, with seven Arab and six non-Arab members, receives political support for maintaining its control over the world petroleum market from a network of businessmen, bankers and public officials within the United States. “This power grid,” Karpel writes, “deploys its influence to ensure that nothing is done to interfere with the flow of petrodollars from American consumers to oil-producing regimes abroad and back to a small number of U.S. exporters, construction companies, banks, lawyers and consultants–the private sector of the petro-industrial complex.”
“This constellation of vested interests benefits from high oil prices overseas,” Karpel charges. “It uses its vast influence to prevent the U.S. government from taking action to weaken OPEC.”
According to Karpel, the major source of support for OPEC with the U.S. is the heavy machinery and transport equipment export and construction sectors, which received more than $7 billion from Arab oil-producing government in 1977. He cites such companies as Bechtel Corp., Caterpillar Tractor Co., and Fluor Engineers and Constructions as being major recipients of Arab contracts paid with petrodollars.
KEY SOURCE OF SUPPORT
Karpel indicates that such banks as Chase Manhattan and Citibank which act as depositories for OPEC surpluses are another key source of support for the foreign oil cartel within the U.S. Noting fears that Arab governments might withdraw the $50 billion they have on deposit in U.S. banks to pressure the U.S. government into forcing a Mideast settlement on Arab terms, Karpel writes:
“The real money weapon is not the threat of sudden withdrawal, but the lure of constant deposits. The $50 billion balance gives the big bank–the most powerful institution in U.S. Society–a vested interest in maintaining OPEC’s power. If OPEC were to falter and the price of oil were to drop, Arab depositors wouldn’t be able to roll over their deposits and that $50 billion would begin to melt away.”
Karpel calls attention to the role of the Trilateral Commission, a foreign policy planning organization founded in 1973 by Chase Manhattan chairman and major oil stockholder David Rockefeller, in advocating cooperation with OPEC. He cites a commission report which says, “The building and petroleum-related industries such as refining and petrochemicals in the (OPEC-oil) producing countries is natural and inevitable. The consuming countries should provide help, even though the temporary effect will be to add to OPEC’s bargaining power, create competition for their own industries, and aggravate their situation regarding the cost and supply of oil products.” According to Karpel, Rockefeller chose Jimmy Carter to be a member of the Trilateral group in 1973 before he become President.
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