It will be too much oil and cheap prices. While we Americans were having a great time roaring around in our gas-guzzling SUVs, the low prices were contributing to the turmoil in Russia, Indonesia, Venezuela and other major oil producers. Even Saudi Arabia, one of the richest countries on Earth, found itself with huge budget deficits and widespread unemployment. That was a key reason the Saudis and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries finally managed to get their act together enough to cut production and boost oil prices to the levels the rest of us are now moaning about. The chances of this happening are fueled by the fact that the world now faces a glut of oil, contrary to predictions just 30 years ago that we would have run out of oil altogether by 1990.
Improved technology makes it easier to find new oil reserves and get far more out of existing ones.
Despite the current popularity of gas-hogging SUVs, all major automakers are developing vehicles that get better fuel mileage or use alternative forms of energy. Once the postwar sanctions against Iraq end, billions of barrels of Iraqi oil could hit the market, along with those from new fields in Canada, Africa and South America. We're global citizens, and the stability of Russia, countries in the gulf and our neighbors in Latin America should be as important to us as 75-cent gasoline. All rights reserved.