9. Comment on the following: In the 1980s OPEC countries expanded their operations downstream with the acquisition of refineries in overseas markets. Countries such as Kuwait, Libya and Venezuela led the way with a belated move by the world’s largest producer, Saudi Arabia following suit. Their national oil companies were able to buy existing facilities in Europe and elsewhere that local companies were only too happy to be rid of as they were unprofitable. In acquiring these unwanted refineries, oil exporters can subsidize the price of the crude these facilities will use and it would seem that without this cheap oil the majority of these refineries would be uneconomic.