“Here’s one of the most important puzzles of global oil security: Since the late 1970s, Saudi Arabia has pumped the market with oil, fearing that high prices could hurt global growth, reduce demand for Saudi oil, and anger its protector, Uncle Sam. Now, oil has almost doubled in one year to more than $90 a barrel, and the Saudis have barely lifted a finger despite the fear that high oil prices could increase the likelihood of an American, and therefore a global, recession. Why? The answer may define oil in the 21st century — or at least underscore the reasons for the US to seek greater oil independence.” [editor’s note: Two things — (1) under the theory of “abiotic petroleum” there’s no scarcity, nor is there a limit to Saudi-desert-as-source; (2) we’re rapidly reaching a level where sane people are limiting their travel plans in expectation of price-drops soon - SAT] [additional editor’s note: Even assuming that the abiogenic petroleum theory is correct — and the evidence for it looks pretty thin — scarcity would be, um, scarcely affected. The actual and potential amounts of oil would still be finite, as would be extraction capacity - TLK] (02/06/08)