Impact of Libyan crisis

Libya, the North African country apparently in a civil war now, is crossing the transition period between the repressive monarchy and democracy. Protesters are struggling for a new leadership and democratic elections there. But Gaddafi, the ruler of all Libya since 1969, is unwilling to leave his 41-year regime. There is blame that Gaddafi, with the elite-class support, has amassed a huge fortune through corruption. Moreover, he has spent most of the state's income on ammunition purchases and on increasing military force. The U.S. State Department claims that Gaddafi's regime has appropriated the democratic rights of people. The USA and other Western countries are claiming that they are trying to establish democracy in Libya. But, it is also a question whether the West has targeted for taking the control of oil-exporting Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries for their huge oil resource. From the perspective of worldwide petroleum business, we see, fighting in Libya has already resulted in increased gas prices due to a possible future disruption to oil supplies. World energy depends on three things: oil, natural gas and nuclear energy. Disruption to one's production increases the price of others. In recent days trust in nuclear energy has diminished and reliance on oil and natural gas has increased. Therefore, disruption to oil-production has become a matter of anxiety to the world economy. The Persian Gulf region produces almost 24 million barrels of oil per day. Though Libya is a small oil-producer, its oil has demand in the Mediterranean basin mainly in Italy, France and other regional buyers. A current high price of oil is believed to be the cause of the apprehension of inappropriate quality and insufficient quantity of oil in the upcoming days. Experts comment that political turmoil in the Middle East shows the fragile dependency of the Western nations on imported petroleum. Whenever there is any conflict in oil-producing countries, Western nations become deeply concerned. It is a serious matter that MENA region is becoming restive day by day. Since world energy is mostly dependent on oil, political stability is very essential in these countries. Increased oil price results in increased commodity price which always aggravate the suffering of the world economy. Political and economic peace in MENA countries is indispensable for the well-being of the whole world. Md. Maidul Islam E-mail: islammaidul@yahoo.com