What if the moon goes out of orbit and crashes into New York

With the Reagan administration, the US did a 180 on energy policy, scrapping almost all investment and leadership in the direction of renewable energy and energy efficiency initiated by Carter.  Two principal, direct results of those changes in national policy have been to bring us to this crises of precarious economic dependence on oil -- foreign or domestic -- and a probable global ecological crisis to boot.  The point on the Venezualan government being "not long on logic or foresight" is valid, but we should not be too quick to throw stones.  Let me also throw out there the notion that pure markets also have neither logic nor foresight (nor conscience).

This is the dumbest & weakest 'what if?' article ever. You forgot to mention what if gravity stopped working as well and how that would add at least an extra dollar to a barrel of crude.

Whoever wrote this article must have been asleep for 2 weeks.  If Saudi Arabia follows through and leaves OPEC afer walking out of the OPEC meeting last week and saying they are leaving OPEC, $90 a barrel looks awfully high.

stop being chicken little and let us in the trucking and construction industry enjoy our little breather   although i wont be happy till diesel falls below 3 at the pump     (keeping fingers crossed)

your an unamerican ass

Crude will not rise. The global economy can not withstand oil prices above 80 dollars a barrel. High oil prices is one of the main causes of the inflation that we experience in our present economy. Oil producing nations such as saudi arabia are aware that high crude prices hurt oil consumption therefore affecting their economy as well.

Crude is headed towards $70 and the 1st quarter of 2009 will see a dramatic turn around in our economy. Not only are you a dick, you are a stupid dick. Why don't you go and live with the Ruskies?

Of course, at some time in the not too distant future oil prices will rise again. Though not necessarily for the reasons mentioned here. Many experts think that we are at or near peak oil production. Peak oil doesn't mean that we will have no oil, but it does mean that oil production will flatten out and then begin to decline. As oil production declines the, oil-based economy will contract. (Some other part of the economic system such as the coal-based economy may expand -at least temporarily.) One consequence of being at or near peak oil is that there is no slack in the oil production system and any disruption at all can cause oil prices to spike.

Latent cuts in fed rates,winter round the corner,downgrading on corporate credit ratings, exposed leverage in lending institutions, downturn in housing markets,small businesses being targeted as capital cows by their loanmasters and the gretest depression about to beset us since the 1920s. I'm looking forward to the comforts endured during WW2, who's worried about oil prices anyway? With consumers unable to afford it, supply and demand will keep the price low- problem starts when the nation runs out of cash.