imposed sanctions on Libya in 1986 following terrorist attacks in Rome and Vienna. Several U.S. oil companies were forced to abandon their assets in Libya when sanctions were imposed in 1986, including the “Oasis Group” (Marathon Oil, ConocoPhillips, Amerada Hess) and Occidental Petroleum. (WSJ) March 31: OPEC members unanimously agree to implement the cartel’s oil production cuts effective April 1, as agreed to in February. Relatively high prices for oil and petroleum products had prompted several consuming countries, including the United States, to suggest that OPEC members vote to postpone the cuts and put downward pressure on oil prices. According to the cartel’s official communiqué following the meeting, “Notwithstanding prevailing high prices, the Conference observed that the crude oil market remains more than well supplied as the world moves into the traditionally lower seasonal demand period.” (Reuters) April 21: A car bomb explodes outside a police building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking the first major attack by militants on governmental targets in the Kingdom. Four people are killed and 148 are wounded. The country's major export facilities are not harmed, but port authorities maintain a “heightened sense of security.” Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil producer and America's second largest foreign supplier of crude oil and petroleum products after Canada. (Reuters, Platts, EIA) May 22: OPEC oil ministers meet in Amsterdam at a forum of energy producing and consuming nations to discuss a response to high oil prices (near-month West Texas Intermediate was above $40 per barrel the previous week). Saudi Arabia calls on OPEC to raise production quotas by as much as 11%, but the ministers do not come to an agreement other than to meet again in Beirut on June 3. Saudi Arabia decides to unilaterally increase its crude oil production beyond its quota to in June. (Reuters) May 30: Saudi militants attack a complex in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, housing foreign workers. After killing various Saudis and foreigners upon entering the compound on May 29, the militants take hostages, and later kill nine of them. Three of the militants are able to escape despite the efforts of the Saudi security forces. This attack, as well as earlier ones in the kingdom, has foreigners and foreign firms reconsidering their presence in Saudi Arabia. (Reuters) June 1: Near-month crude oil futures on the NYMEX reach a record nominal settlement high of $42.33 per barrel, with traders thought to be