Word: opec
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...prices? Saudi Arabia and the rest of OPEC aren't exactly eager to meet demand with supply just yet, but they're not talking about joining Iraq's embargo either. Wall Street and the economy seem able to tolerate a certain amount of Middle East uncertainty. They've had plenty of practice. But nobody wants a war that draws in the surrounding Arab nations and makes Saudi Arabia choose between domestic politics and international money. An unmistakable U.S. presence would send the message that the conflict will not be allowed to spread - and that business elsewhere can continue as usual...
...three decades since the 1973 effort proving to financial markets that it is a reliable oil supplier (and a worthy recipient of U.S. aid); an embargo would destroy all that. And the economic recovery in Asia, Europe and the U.S. has now begun to bring prices up to where OPEC wants them - kill the recovery, kill the demand, and prices with...
...time to panic? Probably not. Unless and until the Middle East fulfills its worst-case scenario and expands into a full-on, pan-regional war, there's little danger to the global oil supply. OPEC, for one, has steered clear of any Saddam-style threats, and seem to realize that it still has more to lose by declaring economic war on the U.S. than it has to gain - particularly with George W. Bush busy courting Arab nations to support his war on terrorism...
...that it's a bad idea - from the OPEC embargo to Iran to the Gulf War to the perenially-in-crisis Middle East, energy-related economic interests has dictated U.S. involvement in plenty of unwanted scrapes, and America's moral legitimacy in the Muslim world has eroded accordingly. The U.S.' oil-fueled alliance with Saudi Arabia was what turned bin Laden against America in the first place; the arguable legitimacy of his beef certainly hasn't damaged his following...
Michael Elliott's analysis of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia and its oil [GLOBAL AGENDA, Nov. 19] didn't address the question of why the price of gasoline at the pumps is dropping when there is a war going on. Do you think it is because OPEC is being nice? Russia has become the world's second largest oil exporter, just when OPEC was hoping to cut back oil production. If new pipelines are built, Russia may be able to export enough oil to significantly reduce U.S. dependence on Middle East sources of oil. (Now is it clear...