International records / Foreign Relations of the United States

282. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs ( Goldman ) to Secretary of Energy Duncan and the Deputy Secretary of Energy ( Sawhill )

p to 0.5 MMB/D of unused capacity, according to Aramco estimates. [ 2 lines not declassified ] Outside the Persian Gulf, Libya is the producer with the largest unused capacity—0.4 MMB/D . Other smaller amounts of unused capacity are in Venezuela and Nigeria, 0.2 MMB/D and 0.1 MMB/D respectively. Among the non- OPEC countries, only Canada and the U.K. (North Sea) may have some spare capacity, approximately 0.1 MMB/D each. The Persian Gulf states may be reluctant to make their unused capacity available while hostilities continue, for fear of retaliation. Kuwait did allow production to rise above…