Chapter 1473 – Oil Crisis

At the same time as the UN meeting was discussing the Middle East issue, Kissinger made a secret visit to Saudi Arabia to meet King Faisal to talk about the matter of the current once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to balance the unfair trade against the imperialist powers, which in fact was to raise the price of oil.

“One could just launch an embargo and then provide an amnesty list.” Kissinger urged the start of an oil embargo to absorb all the overissued U.S. currency. That’s what Rockefeller wants, too.

To be clear, Standard Oil and Saudi Arabia are old friends, no strangers to each other at all, and the discovery of Saudi oil and Standard Oil’s exploration had a great deal to do with it.

In fact, the Middle East was Britain’s sphere of influence at the time, and Britain had discovered oil in Kuwait, Iraq and Iran.

Of course the UK would not have missed Saudi Arabia, but at the time oil was nowhere near as widely used as it is today, and the UK did not want to explore Saudi Arabia after taking control of the aforementioned oil producing areas, as too much cheap oil could lead to a drop in the price of oil and harm the interests of the British Petroleum Company.

After the Saudis approached the UK, the UK rejected the proposal to explore for oil in Saudi Arabia, which was used to protect the price of oil. But it did not realize that Saudi Arabia, which Britain had missed, happened to be the lowest-cost oil-producing region.

After being rejected by Britain, Saudi Arabia turned to the United States to start cooperation, when the main body of the Americans to explore for oil was the Standard Oil Company of California, the Standard Oil is the main industry of the Rockefeller family, only to be split up by the old Roosevelt, after becoming more decentralized.

After World War II, two U.S. oil companies took an equity stake in Standard Oil of California and changed their name to Arabian American Oil Company, which is Aramco. It can be said that the Saudi royal family just started to be familiar with the Rockefeller family, step by step to today.

“Other countries are good, it’s Britain?” King Faisal, of course, wants the interests of the oil-producing countries to be higher, and he understands well the purpose of the United States.

Hoping to increase the influence of the United States in the Middle East, traditionally the main player in the Middle East countries is the United Kingdom, the United States in the Middle East pivot point there are three, Israel, Iran to play the role of the Middle East police, Saudi Arabia is a solid U.S. economic allies.

In fact, Saudi Arabia’s oil settlement with the dollar has begun long ago, but many years ago, the United Kingdom has united a number of oil-producing countries to form a cartel alliance. There was nothing King Faisal could do about it, he even had the feeling of living in the shadow of the British.

An oil embargo and then announcing a rise in oil prices is of course in the interests of the oil producing countries, and this is something that King Faisal believes that the other oil producing countries will side with Saudi Arabia, but if the UK is included? There might be a backlash, not to mention that a bunch of emirates next to Saudi Arabia have British troops stationed there, and the British have set up a military base in Musandam province, which guards the Strait of Hormuz.

Not to mention the fact that this Middle East war, the UK is the provider of weapons to at least three of the countries involved in the war, and of course France, who in addition to supplying weapons on the Egyptian air force, is also a supporter of Lebanon. It can’t be said that there is no influence at all in the Middle East.

In fact, in the eyes of many countries, the United Kingdom is still a world power, King Faisal’s eyes Britain and the United States and the Soviet Union, if not equal, but not too far.

On the contrary, the United States, after losing North Korea and Vietnam, this time standing on the side of Israel? Even if the current did not lose, but there is no trend to win, in the end, how much national power is very doubtful.

“Don’t worry about that, we understand the traditional British-Arab relationship.” Kissinger, of course, would love to do something about Britain, but now things are urgent, if the over-issued dollars once back to the United States, the United States hard to occupy the share of the international monetary settlement will be destroyed, but also will drown the United States, must find a place for the international market for the dollar to be digested.

Kissinger, of course, could not have known that the original history of Britain by this time has been completely dried up, there is no current power, but also do half of the Arab warring countries backing?

Since I do not know, Kissinger can only sigh the legacy of the Sunset Empire is so rich, even if there is no Soviet Union, the United States will need decades to completely put down the United Kingdom, but the Soviet Union on the side of the tiger eyeing, the idea of putting down the United Kingdom and France, can only think about it in the heart, unite all the united position that can be united, the Soviet Union first to be pressed down is the right thing to do.

Israel and the Arab League are in the midst of a fierce battle, and Saudi Arabia has fired the first shot of the Arab world’s counterattack, announcing an oil embargo on the grounds that Europe and the United States are secretly supporting Israel’s war.

King Faisal declared that if Europe and the United States if they did not change their attitude of covertly supporting Israel, they would not get the oil from the Arab world. As soon as the news came out, Europe and the United States were shocked, and on the next day, the Arab oil-producing countries in the Middle East decided to reduce their oil production and imposed an oil embargo on the developed capitalist countries in Europe and the United States.

Most of the oil used by the major capitalist countries, especially Western Europe and Japan, came from the Middle East, and a large part of the oil used by the United States also came from the Middle East. The price hike and embargo on oil immediately caused chaos in the economies of Western countries. Before the price increase, the price of oil was only three dollars per barrel.

The countries embargoed included the United States, of course, and Japan and South Korea in East Asia, but did not include Britain in Europe, because Britain had really done what it could, and no one could say that Britain was on the side of Israel, and the societies of Europe and the United States were in a state of unprecedented disarray on that day.

The following day, an exhausted and gaunt-faced Nixon reappeared on the television fluorescent screen after a long absence. The nation watched as this historic figure gave his views on national affairs at a time when the world was experiencing a tragedy. Everyone felt devastated, yet did not quite understand the magnitude of this worldwide tragedy.

“The United States of America,” Nixon began to read his speech, stuttering a bit as he couldn’t focus his thoughts. He continued, “The United States will have to impose the most severe restrictions on energy. This is unprecedented. Even during the World Wars it did not do this.”

He outlined a series of proposed measures to be brought before Congress: limiting the speed of vehicles on the highways to eighty kilometers per hour, lowering the temperature of heaters in all buildings, establishing an oil rationing program, and so on.

In the hall of the “most important parliament in the world”, William Fulbright, a respected member of the U.S. Senate and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, asked to speak first. William Fulbright, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a popular senator in the U.S. Senate, was the first to request the floor.

Fulbright made some extraordinary remarks in a dull voice: “Dear colleagues, I should like to speak frankly to you about my innermost thoughts. In today’s world, the Arab oil-producing countries have only so much military power. They are like timid gazelles in a jungle infested with fierce animals. As friends, we should remind them of this.

“If they do threaten the economic and social balance of the big industrial countries, especially the United States, they will have to take terrible risks. Before it is too late, they must wake up to the dangers they invite upon themselves by their actions.”

“Quite an act.” Alan Wilson wrapped his arms around Pamela Mountbatten’s petite body and sneered at the news of the oil embargo on TV and the U.S. Congress’s pronouncements, “Honey, just outrageous you know.”

Reading historical information and experiencing historical events first hand are completely different, and that’s how Alan Wilson feels right now, if the Arab League of the Middle East War put an oil embargo on the United States, there’s no saying.

The United States is indeed firmly stood behind Israel, there have been rumors of American-Israeli pilots appeared in the battlefield and was shot down, only the United States did not admit it.

But on what basis is Europe and embargoed? Because European countries didn’t stand firmly behind the Arab League?

That’s outrageous. Can’t you even be neutral? European countries did not support the Arab League, but also did not support Israel, on what grounds to be Arab oil-producing countries oil embargo? Those who do not know think that the United States or the Soviet Union to scare European countries, but in fact the embargo on Europe is Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia in the Arab countries are considered a weak country, it dares to threaten who.

Since another lost a hand in Vietnam, the United States is certainly not possible to organize hundreds of thousands of troops to fight across the ocean, do not see even the conscription system has been changed. But dealing with a Saudi Arabia is still not beyond the ability of the United States.

“Indeed, the United States wants to move, Saudi Arabia really can not hold up. “Pamela Mountbatten nodded, knowing that the United States full of war threat speech really want to pay action, Saudi Arabia certainly do not dare to perform so, “Whitehall have any response?”

“Response to what? Britain is an oil-producing country, North Sea oil to see? It turns out that it’s the low cost of oil in the Middle East that’s why North Sea Oil hasn’t boosted its capacity, and besides, there’s no Britain on the list for the oil embargo. We’re on the Arab side.” Alan Wilson nuzzled, Pamela Mountbatten gave her husband a blank look and came over to offer her red lips to the supreme authority.

It took some lip-synching before Alan Wilson continued, “The really unlucky ones are Japan and Korea, France in Europe should be fine, the rest of the world is sure to be in turmoil for a while.”

France should thank him for his contribution to France over the years, or this oil embargo France will be equally frazzled.

Soon, the power of the oil embargo by the Arab oil-producing countries became apparent, and the Japanese government was the first to react. It announced “an immediate ten percent reduction in oil supply to the following industries: automobile manufacturing, iron and steel industry, electromechanical industry, aluminum industry, cement industry, tire manufacturing, synthetic fibers, paper, and petrochemical industry”. A rationing approach was adopted to deal with the oil crisis.

Germany also reacted quickly. Starting on the last weekend of October, the highways, known for their congestion and busyness, became deserted as the government banned traffic there.