[AMERICA.ALJAZEERA] Global oil prices have fallen 25 percent since June, marking the return of oil-price fluctuation as a geopolitical wild card. Although oil prices have been relatively stable -- about $100 a barrel -- for the past five years, the historical pattern has seen high oil prices boost the strategic clout of producing countries by boosting government coffers, and falling prices have had the opposite effect.The lower prices of the 1980s and '90s, for example, weakened Russia's geopolitical position, while the more recent increases have boosted Moscow's ability to exert influence over former Soviet republics. Higher prices have enabled Venezuela's leadership to strengthen opposition to U.S. influence throughout Latin America.
Fluctuations have had significant effects on economic growth. The fourfold increase imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1973 to protest U.S. support for Israel during its war with Egypt and Syria that year boosted the revenues of producing countries while retarding economic growth elsewhere. Subsequent price drops slowed the economies of the producing countries while consumers elsewhere enjoyed an invigorating lift.