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Why The West Cannot Quit Russian Oil
Despite the West weaning themselves off Russian oil, they cannot still quit oil in its entirety due to the risks of triggering a global recession like what was experienced in the 1970s when the OPEC organisation, which controls the price of oil in the Middle East in response to the 1973 Yom Kippur war between Israel and surrounding Arab states.
OPEC, the Arab oil organisation, punished the West for supporting Israel by decreasing the supply of oil, which led to an increase in gas prices, which led to a recession.
The oil crisis of the 1970s still has long-term impacts, with Japanese birthrates, for example, declining and below replacement levels since 1978.
It also led to the collapse of the Labour government, which was in power from 1974 to 1979, and to the Conservatives being in power in the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1997.
Due to the threat of a potential oil crisis and Western nations’ election cycles in 2024, it’s in their collective interests to ensure that Russian oil continues to flow to the rest of the world.
That is why, according to Bloomberg, around 45% of the Russian fleet that transports oil is a shadow fleet.
In practical terms, this means that the Russians are shipping oil not running under Russian flags.
