Two hundred oil specialists from around the world met in Vienna late last fall to talk with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC. As owners of two-thirds of world oil reserves and seven-eighths of oil exports, OPEC's members can make the future they want come true. Their conference in Venezuela last month only confirms this.

OPEC's headquarters is a squat, square building along the Danube Canal almost in the shadow of St. Stephen's Cathedral. Thirty-five countries sent official representatives, and though the United States sought no invitation, twenty Americans were on hand—about half from oil companies, the others researchers and scholars. The speeches were somber, even gloomy, reflecting troubled waters ahead.