Within a year, Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the architect of the oil price defense, had lost his position.

FORBES: Why I think Saudi Oil Production is now at Capacity

The former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani thinks it could even contribute to the break-up of Opec.

BBC: Opec ponders Iraq's vacant seat

Sheikh Yamani, former Saudi Arabian oil minister, tells The Money Programme that, unless production rises and prices fall soon, the consequences for the world economy will be severe.

BBC: Archive

At the beginning of the year the former Saudi oil minister and internationally renown price-hawk, Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yamani, warned that the long-term outlook for oil producing countries was "disturbing".

BBC: Tide turns against the oil firms