Chapter 59 The 1973 oil crisis

On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria invaded Israel, igniting the smoke known as the "Yom Kippur War".Contrary to the general public's impression, the "Yom Kippur War" was not the result of simple miscalculations, mistakes, or decisions by Arab countries to launch military strikes against Israel.Around the start of this "October War", Washington and London secretly planned a series of events and used the powerful secret diplomatic channel established by President Nixon's National Security Advisor Dr. Henry Kissinger.Through Simcha Dinitz, Israel's ambassador to Washington, Kissinger effectively reined in Israel's policy response.In addition, Kissinger opened up channels of communication with Egypt and Syria.His approach is very simple, that is, to misinform the other party on key issues to ensure the war and the subsequent Arab oil embargo.

Reports from U.S. intelligence agencies, including intercepted communications between Arab officials confirming that buildups for war had begun, were all suppressed by President Nixon’s intelligence “czar” Kissinger at the time.That war and its aftermath, Kissinger's notorious "shuttle diplomacy," were all arranged in Washington on the agenda of the Saltz-Jabaden Conference held in May (that is, about six months before the war began).The whole world is very angry about this, and the Arab oil-producing countries have become scapegoats, while the Anglo-American interest groups that should be responsible are hiding behind the scenes and nothing has happened.

In mid-October 1973, the chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Willy Brandt, told the US ambassador in Bonn that the Federal Republic of Germany remained neutral in the conflict in the Middle East and that the United States would not be allowed to use German military bases to resupply Israel.With a sense of foreboding, President Nixon sent Prime Minister Brandt a strongly worded protest letter on October 30, 1973, most of which may have been drafted by Kissinger. We recognize that Europeans are more dependent on Arabian oil than we are.However, we believe that not aligning with us on an issue of this magnitude does not reduce your vulnerability... You believe that this crisis is not a joint responsibility of the coalition and that military supplies to Israel are not a coalition responsibility a part of.I think we have a hard time agreeing with you...

On the question of the conflict in the Middle East, Washington would never allow the Federal Republic of Germany to declare its neutrality.However, it is worth noting that the UK could express its neutrality clearly, so she also avoided the impact of the Arab oil embargo.Once again, London has deftly dodged a major international crisis, which Britain has always been able to do.A huge consequence of quadrupling OPEC oil prices is that the North Sea oil fields in which BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other Anglo-American oil companies have ventured are able to generate profits that otherwise would have cost billions of dollars of investment in vain.At the time, it was unclear whether these new North Sea oil fields would be profitable if OPEC oil prices did not rise.Of course, this could just be a coincidence.

On October 16, 1973, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) held a meeting on oil prices in Vienna, after which they raised the price of oil from $3.01 a barrel to $5.11 a barrel, a staggering 70 percent increase.On the same day, the Arab member states of OPEC announced the suspension of oil exports to the United States and the Netherlands while enumerating the crimes of the United States in supporting Israel in the Middle East war. Rotterdam has always been the main oil port in Western Europe. On October 17, 1973, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Algeria announced that their oil production in October would be cut by 5% on the basis of September, and would be reduced by 5% every month thereafter. "Until the complete withdrawal of Israel from all Arab territories occupied in June 1967 and the restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people." The world's first "oil crisis," or "oil boom" as Japan defines it, is imminent .

It's worth noting that the oil crisis didn't really come until late 1973.At that time, the president of the United States happened to be involved in the so-called "Watergate Incident", so Henry Kissinger became the de facto president, with full responsibility for handling American policy in crisis. In 1974, the Nixon administration sent a senior White House official to the Treasury Department to devise a strategy to force OPEC to lower oil prices, but he was rudely kicked out.In a memo, the official described: "It was the banking leaders who were unwilling to accept the proposal to lower the price of oil and urged the use of 'recycling' schemes to accommodate high oil prices. This was the fatal decision..."

The then U.S. Treasury Department, under the leadership of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Jack Bennett, entered into a secret agreement with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), written in February 1975 by Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Bennett It was finalized in a memorandum to Secretary of State Kissinger.Bennett helped President Nixon formulate the crucial August 1971 dollar policy.Under the terms of the secret agreement, most of Saudi Arabia's oil tax proceeds will be used to cover the U.S. government's fiscal deficit.David Mulford, a young Wall Street investment banker and then the head of Whiteveld's London branch specializing in European bonds, was sent to Saudi Arabia as the chief "investment advisor" of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority.His job was to direct Saudi Arabia to invest its petrodollars in the right banks, of course in London and New York.The Bilderberg program is progressing as planned.

As President Nixon's most authoritative national security adviser, Kissinger had firmly controlled the entire US intelligence system and also controlled US foreign policy. Just before the October Yom Kippur War, he persuaded Nixon to nominate him as Secretary of State.Because of his important role, Kissinger has two titles: White House assistant for national security affairs and secretary of state, which is unprecedented.In the final months of Nixon's presidency, no one wielded as much power as Kissinger.Even more interesting is that Kissinger also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973.

Just after the January 1, 1974 meeting in Tehran, a second oil price hike began, this time doubling the price, with the OPEC crude benchmark hitting $11.65.This was the result of an urging by the Shah of Iran, secretly pressured by Kissinger to do so.It's amazing that he's making such a demand, when just a few months ago he opposed OPEC raising the price of oil to $3.01 because he feared it would cause western exporters to raise the price of industrial equipment exported to Iran, which It is urgently needed by Iran to advance its ambitious industrialization process.Washington and the West's support for Israel in the October War has sparked anger among participating OPEC nations.Even Kissinger's State Department was unaware of the secret conspiracy between Kissinger and the Shah of Iran.

From 1949 to the end of 1970, the price of crude oil in the Middle East averaged about $1.90 per barrel.It rose to $3.01 per barrel in early 1973, which is when the Bilderberg Club discussed a future quadrupling of OPEC oil prices at the Saltzjobaden meeting.By January 1974, the quadrupling of oil prices was a fact.