The Soviet Union and the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973-74
| Author | Arthur Jay Klinghoffer |
| Published date | 01 April 1976 |
| Date | 01 April 1976 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/004711787600500303 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
1011
THE
SOVIET
UNION
AND
THE
ARAB
OIL
EMBARGO
OF
1973-74
ARTHUR
JAY
KLINGHOFFER
Soviet
political
support
for
the
Arab
cause
against
Israel
has
led
to
verbal
pronouncements
encouraging
the
Arab
oil
embargoes
of
1956,
1967
and
1973-74
but
the
Soviet
Union
has
not
participated
by
withholding
its
own
oil
exports
from
Western
markets.
In
fact,
the
Soviet
Union
has
consistently
taken
advantage
of
Arab
embargoes
by
furthering
its
oil
export
drive.
It
has
moved
into
new
markets
and
acquired
additional
hard
currency
as
a
result
of
the
rising
oil
prices
associated
with
the
embargoes.
Benefiting
financially
and
politically,
the
Soviet
Union
has
acted
primarily
through
Arab
proxy
and
has
taken
almost
no
direct
risk.
Although
the
oil
embargoes
generally
proved
advantageous,
many
of
their
side-effects
were
neither
envisioned
nor
planned
by
the
Soviets
and
some
of
them
even
had
a
negative
impact
on
Soviet
foreign
policy
and
economic
interests.
The
Arab
oil
embargo
of
1956
was
specifically
aimed
at
Britain
and
France
as
a
result
of
their
collaboration
with
Israel
during
the
Suez
War.
The
Soviet
Union
did
not
substantially
increase
its
sales
at
the
time
because
it
had
little
extra
oil
available
for
export
but
shipments
to
France
were
somewhat
augmented.
However,
Franco-Soviet
talks
on
increasing
Soviet
oil
deliveries
had
been
initiated
prior
to
the
Suez
War
so
the
Soviets
were
not
really
taking
advantage
of
France’s
temporary
oil
deficiency.’
On
the
other
hand,
the
Soviets
behaved
opportu-
nistically
in
increasing
oil
sales
to
Egypt
and
in
beginning
deliveries
to
Syria.
Obviously
attempting
to
further
their
ties
with
Arab
states,
they
partially
replaced
British
marketers
of
oil
in
Egypt
and
they
provided
oil
products
for
Syria,
which
had
cut
off
its
own
oil
supply
by
damaging
the
British-owned
Iraq
Petroleum
Company
pipeline
which
ran
from
Iraq
to
the
Syrian
coast.’
Overall,
Soviet
oil
activities
during
the
1956
1
William
Jorden,
"Oil
Exports
Seen
as
Soviet
Weapon,"
The
New
York
Times,
November
29,
1956,
p.4
"Soviet
Oil
Offer
Clarified,"
The
New
York
Times,
December
1,
1956,
p.4;
and
"Soviet
Denies
Offering
Oil,"
The
New
York
Times,
December
2,
1956,
p.35.
Soviet
crude
oil
sales
to
France
rose
from
199,000
tons
in
1955
to
262,000
tons
in
1956
while
sales
of
oil
products
jumped
from
69,400
tons
to
146,900
tons.
See
Vneshniaia
torgovlia
SSSR
za
1956
god:
statisticheskii
obzor
(Mos-
cow :
Vneshtorgizdat,
1958),
p.93.
2
Dana
Adams
Schmidt,
"Soviet
Reported
Offering
French
and
Arabs
Its
Oil,"
The
New
York
Times,
November
28,
1956,
pp.1
and
5
and
Halford
Hoskins,
"Problems
Raised
by
the
Soviet
Oil
Offensive,"
United
States
Senate,
Committee
on
the
Judiciary
(Washington:
U.S.
Government
Printing
Office,
1962),
p.2.
For
statistics
on
Soviet
oil
deliveries
to
Egypt
and
Syria,
see
Vneshniaia
torgovlia
SSSR
za
1956
god:
statisticheskii
obzor,
op.
cit.,
pp.145
and
149.
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