Oil: mood music with guns

A month is a long time in the oil market. Suppose Russia and Georgia had come into armed conflict on July 8, rather than on the same day in August. The news that troops threatened a country which carries 1% of the world’s oil supply to the sea would have spread panic. But then the price of crude, $144 a barrel, had risen by 40% in just three months. A military crisis involving Russia would have reinforced concerns over the security of supply for an oil-thirsty world. The price would almost cert...