The Conflict

The countries belonging to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) control almost sixty-seven percent of the world's estimated crude oil reserves and forty percent of the world's production of crude oil. When OPEC limited production in order to drive up prices, Western nations—highly dependent on oil—protested. In the spring of 2000, OPEC increased production, but prices continued to rise.

Economic

• The countries that have a lot of oil want to make money off of the scarce resource—and want to continue to make money for a long time.
• Industrialized countries are highly dependent on oil, and high oil prices effect their economies.

During 1999 and 2000 gasoline prices rose more rapidly than at any other time in history. Fed-up citizen groups throughout the United States organized "Gas-Out Days," when millions of drivers refused...