1985 world oil market chronology
Encyclopedia
- January: Nine OPECOPECOPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
members adjust prices to cut gap between light and heavy crudes from $4 to $2.40 per barrel. Saudi light price cut one dollar to $28 per barrel. - March 11–19: IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian offensive; heavy casualties. - May–June: "Battle of the cities" - heavy bombing from both Iran and IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. - June: OPEC output falls to 20-year low of 13.7 MMB/D.
- June: Iran begins hit-and-run raids on Iraq.
- July: OPEC loses customers to cheaper North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
oil. More OPEC price cuts. - August: Saudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
links prices to spot market. Output rises from 2 MMB/D in August to 5 MMB/D in early 1986. - August 15: First Iraqi air raid on Iran's main oil export terminal, Kharg IslandKharg IslandKharg Island is a continental island in the Persian Gulf belonging to Iran. The island is located off the coast of Iran and northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. Administered by the adjacent coastal Bushehr Province, Kharg Island provides a sea port for the export of oil and extends Iranian...
. - November 6: Exploratory well in Ranger, TexasRanger, TexasRanger is a city in Eastland County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,584 at the 2000 census. Ranger College, a community college, is the second largest employer in the community....
, blows outBlowout (well drilling)A blowout is the uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from an oil well or gas well after pressure control systems have failed....
, spilling 150,000 BBLS of crude oil. - December: OPEC output hits 18 MMB/D boosting a glut and triggering a price war.
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1984 world oil market chronology
1984 world oil market chronology
*February - March: Iran captures Najnoon Islands.*March 27: Beginning of "tanker war." Over the next nine months, 44 ships, including Iranian, Iraqi, Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti tankers, are attacked by Iraqi or Iranian warplanes or damaged by mines....
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Chronology of world oil market events (1970-2005)
Chronology of world oil market events (1970-2005)
-1970:*January 1: U.S. Federal oil depletion allowance reduced from 27.5 to 22.0 percent.*May 3: TAP line from Saudi Arabia to the Mediterranean interrupted in Syria, creating all-time tanker rate highs from June to December....
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1986 world oil market chronology
1986 world oil market chronology
Average world oil prices fall by over 50 percent in 1986. There is wide use of netback pricing in 1986.*January 7: The United States invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, halting imports of all goods and services of Libyan origin...
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