NBC Nightly News open - 1979-06-25

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] This is NBC Nightly News

[0:05] with John Chancellor in New York, David

[0:08] Brinkley in Washington, and tonight's

[0:11] segment three, Robert Bazelle's report,

[0:14] Agent Orange.

[0:17] Good evening. The OPEC oil ministers

[0:20] gathering in Geneva to talk about the

[0:22] price of oil have only one decision to

[0:24] make. How much to raise it? They have

[0:27] already agreed that they want more. Not

[0:29] if, but how much. What they decide will

[0:32] help set the price of gasoline now and

[0:35] the price of heating oil next winter.

[0:37] Our business correspondent, Mike Jensen,

[0:39] is in Geneva and has a good indication

[0:41] of what the new higher price will be.

[0:47] Under heavy guard, the OPEC oil

[0:49] ministers began arriving today in Geneva

[0:51] for a meeting that has grim overtones

[0:53] for much of the world. OPEC has already

[0:56] raised the price of oil almost 40% since

[0:58] the first of the year. That's about 12

[1:00] cents a gallon at the gasoline pump. Now

[1:03] OPEC is preparing to raise the price

[1:05] again.

[1:07] One of the first to arrive was Dr. Mana

[1:09] Alotiba, president of OPEC. He told NBC

[1:12] News that he had visited many of OPEC's

[1:14] members in recent weeks and found

[1:16] support for a new increase of $4 or5 a

[1:19] barrel. He said he hoped the new price

[1:21] would serve as a ceiling and not just a

[1:23] floor. that it would get rid of the

[1:25] search charges that have raised some oil

[1:27] prices well above $20. If not, he said

[1:30] the cartel would be weakened. But not

[1:32] all the delegates seem satisfied to

[1:34] limit themselves. Cyrus Ibrahim Zadi of

[1:37] Iran. Sir,

[1:38] >> what do you expect the price increase to

[1:40] be that will come out of this OPEC

[1:41] meeting?

[1:43] >> I think it would be something uh more

[1:45] than $20.

[1:47] >> OPEC wants countries like the United

[1:49] States to reduce their oil consumption.

[1:51] Dr.

[1:52] I understand very well the the problem

[1:55] which the the individual American is

[1:58] facing because uh he got used to certain

[2:02] kind of life. I think we have to

[2:06] explain to him that he should change his

[2:10] old way of life.

[2:13] >> All we know for certain is that there

[2:14] will be a price increase, a big one. The

[2:17] Saudis have been selling at the official

[2:18] price. No sir charges. If they go to $20

[2:22] a barrel, it will mean an increase of 12

[2:24] cents a gallon for gasoline made from

[2:26] their crude oil. Mike Jensen, NBC News,

[2:30] Geneva.

[2:31] While the oil producers were getting

[2:33] ready for another price increase, the

[2:35] oil consumers were beginning to meet in

[2:37] Japan. President Carter's state visit

[2:39] began today. He is from a country which

[2:42] buys half of its oil overseas. His

[2:44] Japanese hosts import about 99% of their

[2:47] oil. And later this week, they'll be

[2:49] joined by European leaders who are also

[2:51] heavy users of imported petroleum. All

[2:53] of them are in a pickle. Two reports now

[2:56] from Japan.

[2:59] The president's day began at the Akasaka

[3:02] Palace with an official state welcome by

[3:04] 78-year-old Emperor Hiroito and a review

[3:08] of the honor guard. Before lunch with

[3:10] Prime Minister O'Hira, Mrs. Carter was

[3:13] suddenly taken ill with a virus that

[3:15] both she and Amy had caught from other

[3:17] family members in Washington. She

[3:20] returned to the American embassy. The

[3:22] president went sightseeing without her.

[3:24] He visited the Maji Shrine, named for

[3:27] the emperor's grandfather and the

[3:29] shrine's spectacular iris gardens. By

[3:32] tonight, Mrs. Carter was feeling better

[3:34] and she joined her husband for the state

[3:36] dinner put on by the emperor. The

[3:39] president said that relations between

[3:41] Japan and the United States are as busy

[3:43] and close as between any two nations on

[3:46] Earth.

[3:48] But there was more than ceremony on the

[3:50] president's schedule today. There were

[3:52] serious talks with Prime Minister O'Hira

[3:54] about energy, about a plan to cut oil

[3:57] imports that Japan, the United States,

[4:00] and the Western democracies can agree on

[4:03] when they meet here later this week at

[4:05] their economic summit.