Saudi decision-makers would be well advised to examine what lies behind the deep U.S. concern about oil prices. America is more worried about a politically-motivated crisis than about the usual market manipulation, writes Patrick Clawson, director for research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The smaller part of Washington's energy worries is the usual politicians' panic.
Politicians hate to see consumers unhappy, especially before an election.
President Bill Clinton is concerned that protests over high oil prices could develop just as quickly and unexpectedly in the U.S. as those that so badly damaged the popularity of his good friend, British prime minister Tony Blair. This is something Saudi leaders understand well. They have learned that the interests of Saudi Arabia, as well as those of oil consumers, are best served by policies that reassure consumers that they can count on oil as an energy source. Given that its proven reserves could sustain production for at least a century, Saudi Arabia has every reason to make sure that consumers do not go hunting for another energy source to replace oil. Rather than how much oil OPEC pumps in the last months of 2000, what looms larger in U.S. concern about the oil market is the shortage of spare capacity.