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OPEC Strength. Many oil economists disagree, because the realities of the oil industry have changed drastically in the past few years; in their view, breaking up the oil companies would fragment an efficient industry and possibly push prices still higher. In general, Blair's book is the advocacy of a special viewpoint rather than a balanced overall survey. Most important, Blair seems to underestimate the true power of OPEC. When first created by the oil-producing countries in 1960 as a counterweight to the then all-powerful companies, OPEC was indeed ineffectual. But it gained strength rapidly, and many of its member countries have nationalized the Seven Sisters' holdings. Says M.I.T. Oil Economist Morris A. Adelman: "The oil companies are now hired hands who supply their services. It's the OPEC governments who are running the show and taking the rest of the world to the cleaners. To blame the oil companies for it is wide of the mark." Adds Walter J. Levy, an eminent international petroleum consultant: "The winds of change have shifted power away from the oil companies and placed it firmly in the hands of the producing countries."
Unfortunately, Blair cannot continue the argument. Last December, shortly after completing the marathon grind of writing Control (it contains 789 explanatory notes), he died at 62 of a heart attack at his Florida home.