The oil shocks of 1973/74 and 1979/80 are now mainly remembered for the disruption and hardship they caused in the major oil-consuming countries. But they marked a lasting inflection point in the development of the oil market and almost all the changes were adverse to OPEC in the long run. Following the oil shocks, global oil consumption grew more slowly while non-OPEC production rose more rapidly. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries initially benefited from a gusher of windfall revenues, but in the long term the oil shocks were disastrous. OPEC’s market share fell and its members were left with excess production capacity that remained a […]