It's Tuesday, February 17th. In a speech to Pentagon leaders today, President Clinton laid out the case for military strikes against Iraq. Force would not be necessary, the President said, if Iraq would honor promises it made after the Gulf War to give the United Nations full access to weapons sites. But Saddam Hussein could end this crisis tomorrow, simply by letting the weapons inspectors complete their mission. But as the latest round of U.S. and Iraq brinkmanship has unfolded, the world price of oil has actually been dropping sharply, as Marketplace's Washington editor John Dimsdale reports.
Oil is cheap and the supply is plentiful.
That's because prices are being influenced by other factors right now. Unseasonably warm weather in much of the U.S., and slower economic growth in Asia, have lowered demand. And there's potential for even more supplies hitting the market, from, ironically enough, Iraq, which has not been allowed to export much oil since the Gulf War. John Lichtblau watches oil markets for the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation in New York. That is they're allowed now to export oil to buy food and medical supplies.