Very simple. Controlled fusion could be extremely cheap and clean - leading to almost free electricity - leading to electric cars actually making sense - leading to electric heating of homes actually making sense - leading to a lot less need for oil.
And if we had a government worth spit at the time, they would support the domestic oil business and slap a tariff on imported oil that would put the maniacs in the Middle East out of business. Unfortunately, less oil means less money for big oil.
All of the oil companies are multinationals. Even if their domestic operations were protected, they wouldn't like seeing their overseas operations decimated.
Thanks, that starts to make more sense. Given the time in history, I find the fear by the oil companies to be a little far-fetched, but that’s just me.
Thanks for the info.