GalvestonDuck wrote:It's my understanding that we only get about 30% of our oil from OPEC nations. So, what does the war have to do with the other 70%?
Oil is traded on a global commodities market. There is a given demand, and a given supply. Before we invaded Iraq, supply outstripped demand by ~5-10%. This kept the prices at the low levels we were used to. However, when we invaded Iraq, we took their oil production offline, and even now their production is nowhere near what it was even under the Oil for Food restrictions, and even that small production is in constant jeopardy of interruption by insurgents. Between that and the constant growth of both China and India, global demand has now outstripped global supply.
In short, it doesn't really matter where the oil comes out of the ground. All of the world's oil resources are pooled together at the commdoities market, and bid on by speculators. That's why there is just one oil price for the whole world. If you think this is bad, just keep hoping they don't start trading oil in Euros instead of dollars. If they do that, prices will go up even more for us. On the bright side, this seems unlikely now since the dollar seems to have stopped its slide versus the Euro.