Overview
2007 - 2008
Oil prices gradually moved downward after the events of September 11, 2001 and fell below the $20 per barrel mark in 2002. Thereafter, this trend was reversed and oil prices began to rise rapidly and broke through the $100 mark at the outset of 2008. The study aims to identify the background of these developments, the impact both on oil producing and oil importing countries as well as on the global economy, and the political impact on the Middle East and the entire world. The destabilization of Middle Eastern countries, the resurgence of Russia, marked increase in oil consumption in China and India, and the status of the U.S. dollar as a key currency are all parameters with far-reaching global consequences. Japan, heavily dependent on foreign sources of energy and committed to being a participant in the international economy, has an extremely important stake in these developments.
January 29, 2008 - July 10, 2008
