Thus, when OPEC and its allies cut back oil liftings by more than 3 million barrels a day in 1998 and 1999, against the backdrop of expanding world demand, the buffer of more than 15 days of usable oil that prevailed at the time rapidly shrank to a little more than 10 days. As a consequence, the price of crude oil tripled.
QK=R;<SK6J<T?? BC  BE@ AEG AEF AEA  H  IJ8=KL699MN;=K  O8P=><6K  BA C  @AAD @ABC @A@B @AAD @ABC @A@BA  U V>7>T7K=6W<6<7XT6M>;8S9K=R;<Y=Z9XMR=>K=W;8789;8S UU [;ZL:68<TL=8R=R788M7X;>=R<=K:> [6MK9=>\V][YV^_VY_]V   65 6 6   65 1  66     /28   #.