The market was further churned by the traders, for whom the volatility, disarray, and confusion made this a heyday. Some were from established commodity trading houses, some had entered the business after 1973, and some were johnny-come-latelies who rushed into the fray, their only capital requirement being what was needed to get a telephone and a telex installed. They were everywhere, it seemed, in every transaction, vying with the traditional oil companies for ownership, as cargoes still on the high seas were sold and resold—one cargo, fifty-six times over. The traders’ only interest was the
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