[Zhang Fei]

As none have represented a threat to the borders of this nation of states, frankly I wouldn't care. Another side effect may also have been a concerted search and drilling effort in other parts of the world.

We went to war with Iraq to prevent it from completing a grab of Kuwait's oil reserves. Kuwait is just one of the many oil-producing Arab states. A single Arab nation would have hundreds of millions of people. Think China, but with half of the world's oil.

The reason the world buys oil from the Middle East is not because it likes the Arabs, or because Arab oil is the cheapest oil available - there is a single world price for oil - it's because Arab oil is one of the few sources of oil available. Just because you look for oil doesn't mean it's there. Most of the easy finds are exhausted. Oil in Arabia did not require much exploration - it had been bubbling to the surface for thousands of years - remember Aladdin and his magic (oil) lamp? That's what they used to use it for until the advent of modern refining techniques.

[Nova]

"Just because you look for oil doesn't mean it's there."

It's my understanding that there may be lots of oil in places difficult to extract for political and technical reasons; such as off the SE coast of the USA and off the West coast of Africa.

[billbears]

We went to war with Iraq to prevent it from completing a grab of Kuwait's oil reserves.

I do wish 'conservatives' would make up their minds about the causes of Gulf Police Actions I+II. Again, a threat does not necessarily exist if one nation or many nations are the suppliers of oil

Most of the easy finds are exhausted

Really? I can think of several places in the Western Hemisphere where oil has been found. However, pandering to an environmentalist mindset has prevented oil drilling