From The Hindu, May 22, 1975: World oil prices likely to go up

Washington, May 21: World oil prices, which now range between $11 and $12 a barrel, are expected to go up by another $2 at the end of this summer, after the oil-producing countries meet in Gabon, West Africa, in September. That is the month when the present freeze in prices, agreed to by the world oil cartel last year, expires.

Anticipating this price increase, major international oil companies are already adjusting their plans to accommodate the price changes.

Though the Shah of Iran, who was in Washington last week, did not indicate the size of the price increase, he did predict that the oil exporters would raise the prices in order to compensate for continuing inflation, and because oil consumers around the world had not learnt to use less energy or curb their consumption.

For the United States alone, which imports seven million barrels a day, a two-dollar price hike would mean an addition of $5 billion to its annual oil bill. With domestic production decreasing, President Ford himself warned yesterday that America “is approaching a more serious energy shortage and we are not facing up to it.”

At the least, another oil price rise is expected to delay the day when economic recovery begins.

At the worst, it will aggravate the current worldwide recession, according to economic experts.