USSR joins OPEC

I recently read something interesting online, talking about the relationship between Russia and OPEC, and this part got me:

http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/09/10/19722157.html
The Soviet Union would not tolerate any political dependence on the Islamic states, and this rejection of OPEC membership largely contributed to the country’s collapse. In exchange for sophisticated arms supplies, the US persuaded Saudi Arabia to sharply increase oil production in the early 1980s, thus causing a global market meltdown. Consequently, the Soviet Union lost most of its revenues and eventually ceased to exist.

So what happens if the USSR does join and have the power to affect global oil prices?
 
So the USSR would join OPEC in the 1960's?

With closer ties to the mid-east and elements in Africa and S. America, would the USSR be more successful in exerting influence in those areas? It seems reasonable.

Assuming the 1973 war isn't butterflied away (or at least starts along roughly the same lines at another date), the USSR would probably help out its allies/proxies/clients even more than OTL. With the US backing Isreal... does the mid-east become the flashpoint for WWIII that many people feared it would?

Dear Azel the butterflies fly wide and fast on this one, don't they?
 
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