In the most recent committee session of OPEC, the main point of debate was centered around cutting oil production to increase oil prices. Recently the international price of oil fell from $100 a barrel to $30 a barrel. Countries that depend upon oil for their economy have been facing economic troubles, and in order to combat that, there have been resolutions that called for all countries to reduce their oil production. However, many countries completely ignored that resolution, and some even increased their oil production. The oil prices stayed the same, and the countries who actually cut their oil production lost a lot of money.
The delegate of USA began the discussion with the statement, “OPEC is a cartel. We are morally and ethically wrong. All we need is to make money and jobs for us.” This set the tone for the debate, as the following discussion focused on the topic of making money for OPEC countries. The delegate of Angola talked about long-term benefit, but short-term loss in the economy. Furthermore, Angola stated that because of the short-term economic they needed to provide short-term incentives to ensure that countries follow the resolutions. If this would be followed, it will raise oil prices for everyone.
The delegation of Algeria countered Angola and said that they had already drastically decreased oil production. “We will reduce more, but we cannot reduce production for more than six months. We propose that we meet after 6 months to see how oil prices have been affected.” The delegate of Norway brought a new idea, stating that some countries should keep their oil, depending on how reliant on oil their economy is and the GDP.
The delegation of Qatar disagreed with Norway and stated, “We need everyone to cut production equally.” The delegate of Mexico said, “We need to work together, and cut all oil production by a percentage.” The delegate of Nigeria restated Angola’s belief that they needed to provide short-term benefits to all countries.
The delegate of Saudi Arabia said, “We don’t need to baby any countries. They all need to face the same pain we will feel because of the oil reduction.” The delegate of Australia talked about repercussions for not following the resolutions, “We need punishments.” The delegate of Algeria said, “We can’t trust the USA,” which started quite a bit of debate. The delegate of Russia ended the discussion with, “We need to make the cut for 6 months. We can then meet and talk about the new oil prices.”
The delegate of USA began the discussion with the statement, “OPEC is a cartel. We are morally and ethically wrong. All we need is to make money and jobs for us.” This set the tone for the debate, as the following discussion focused on the topic of making money for OPEC countries. The delegate of Angola talked about long-term benefit, but short-term loss in the economy. Furthermore, Angola stated that because of the short-term economic they needed to provide short-term incentives to ensure that countries follow the resolutions. If this would be followed, it will raise oil prices for everyone.
The delegation of Algeria countered Angola and said that they had already drastically decreased oil production. “We will reduce more, but we cannot reduce production for more than six months. We propose that we meet after 6 months to see how oil prices have been affected.” The delegate of Norway brought a new idea, stating that some countries should keep their oil, depending on how reliant on oil their economy is and the GDP.
The delegation of Qatar disagreed with Norway and stated, “We need everyone to cut production equally.” The delegate of Mexico said, “We need to work together, and cut all oil production by a percentage.” The delegate of Nigeria restated Angola’s belief that they needed to provide short-term benefits to all countries.
The delegate of Saudi Arabia said, “We don’t need to baby any countries. They all need to face the same pain we will feel because of the oil reduction.” The delegate of Australia talked about repercussions for not following the resolutions, “We need punishments.” The delegate of Algeria said, “We can’t trust the USA,” which started quite a bit of debate. The delegate of Russia ended the discussion with, “We need to make the cut for 6 months. We can then meet and talk about the new oil prices.”