By Ezra
To jump on some of John's points below (where he responds to Reynolds' plan for invading Saudi Arabia and opening their oil spigots), to think that the Saudis are purposefully keeping oil prices high is simply nuts. Everyone knows the age of oil is coming, within a number of decades, to an inglorious end. What the Saudis want is to keep oil cheap enough for long enough that the world doesn't get serious about conservation or alternative energy until the Saudi's reserves are near-exhaustion. To think that they're pushing oil prices into the atmosphere before their reserves are out, forcing immediate conservation and real pressure for substantive end-of-oil strategies, is to fundamentally misunderstand the dynamics of the global oil market. Indeed, it lends itself to one of two conclusions:
1) The Saudis are insane, don't wish to make money, and are hoping the world ceases purchasing their primary export;
2) They're already running out of oil, or at least excess capacity, and they're not tamping down prices because they need their remaining reserves to stretch.
Take your pick.
