Textile Machinery-Spectre of Imports

Oil Prices WHO is hoodwinking whom? Following the cleavage which opened up at the conference in Qatar last month, the unity of the OPEC countries would seem to have ended. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while not formally walking out of the cartel, have proclaimed to the world their intention to go their separate ways, and not take the cue from the other oil-pro- ducing nations. The latter are supposed- ly determined to raise their price by 10 to 15 per cent; not the two dissident governments. They will raise the price of oil by only 5 per cent; what is more, Sheikh Zaki Yamani even threatened to raise the level of Saudi Arabian output and flood the Western market. Currently, Saudi Arabia's share in total OPEC production is around 30 per rent. If it is now pushed up, and the United Arab Emirates also follows suit, havoc could take over. Yamani's state- ment is thus as good as saying that the Saudis want no further part of the OPEC game.