Cheaper Oil Prices? Forget About It - Read This Article (Very Scary)

[Ugnmoose]

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=1534

(snip)
Among the early goals of the Bush administration, controlling global energy flows was certainly right at the top of the list; so imagine the irony (not that Bush's men are much into irony) -- this administration might, in part, be sunk by soaring domestic gas prices. The precipitous rise in the price of a barrel of oil over recent months has been linked to the war in Iraq and to the instability it has brought to the oil heartlands of our planet, and here's the essential irony for an administration of energy-control freaks -- what happens at the pump between now and November may be beyond their powers to control.

The U.S. hasn't even been able to stop the escalating attacks on and sabotage of Iraq's oil pipelines -- now practically an everyday event. In the meantime, the threat to oil supplies has been seeping across the border into Saudi Arabia. Oil prices, which had dipped from recent highs, are again inching up toward the $40 a barrel mark. Throw in chaos in Russia's oil industry; stir in a Middle East guaranteed to be ever more in turmoil (just wait until the first Saudi oil facility goes up in flames), add in the skyrocketing global desire for ever more oil, and you're beginning to deal with the realities of a business which could provide a distinct October surprise for the Bush administration and many more surprises in future years for the rest of us. Only yesterday, according to the British Financial Times, "Strong global demand for oil, limited supply increases and continuing security fears led the US government… to raise its central price forecast for US crude over the next 18 months to $37 a barrel… As recently as April it forecast crude falling below $30."