[boris]

"First, enemies like Iran and triangulators such as Saudi Arabia are increasingly immune from American political pressure, not just because we are dependent on imported petroleum, but also because an energy-sensitive world will blame the United States for any action that endangers a now-fragile global market."

Oil is fungible. Think of a big tank. Some countries pour oil into it, others take the oil out and pay them. If Saudi Arabia refuses to sell us oil, there will be more oil available from Venezuela.

[Tolik]

What you are saying is correct. But there are few other things to consider in order to complete the picture.

The current oil prices are not just a function of the supply-and-demand, but also of the market uneasiness with the future. A threat of a danger of interruption of oil production due to a war, or Al-Qaida's diversions can drive the price even higher (and that is not healthy to our economy, and by extension to the global economy). Markets will eventually recover, and other suppliers will step in (as you say), but the panic on the market even a relatively short-lived can have a long term effects. And where we have just a hiccup, other weaker economies can fall into a recession just because of the spike in the energy prices.

I agree with proposals (VDH's and others) to make markets less nervous about future oil productions: producing more of our own oil; eliminating barriers to refined gas flow between different regions in US due to a myriad of EPA region-specific additives; building more refineries; building nuclear plants. These measures are not implemented only because of the politics. They are expensive as they are, but unlimited litigation (thanks to enviro absolutists) postponing returns on investment indefinitely is something no investor can afford.