Part 4, Chapter 26 Summary

Badly in need of hard currency, the Soviets proved a tough competitor in the Western oil market. At one point, they undercut Middle Eastern oil by 50%. Their most prominent buyer was Enrico Mattei.

Monroe ("Jack") Rathbone brought science into the boardroom of Jersey Standard when he became chairman, but could not grasp the nationalist mentality of the oil-producing countries. He was determined to cut Jersey's posted price, and even Jablonski could not convince him that the existing structure of IPC and Aramco would be short-lived. In 1960 Jersey cut prices by 7%, and competitors followed suit, with little enthusiasm but considerable alarm. Within hours, Tariki arranged to meet with Pérez Alfonso in Beirut. Iraq, which had boycotted the Cairo meeting, saw an opportunity to challenge Nasser for leadership of the Arab world, and proposed establishing an organization composed exclusively of oil...