Turmoil and chaos have been a byproduct of oil ever since the world chose it as the main energy resource. It may be hard to judge the choice as right or wrong, but when people realized that the cost and the risk of abandoning this energy source would be even greater than of using it, they chose to find ways, be it economic, diplomatic or military, to shore up energy "security". The sad reality is the process of seeking "security" would give rise to more elements of insecurity and one of the symptoms of this condition is the shockwave of high oil price.
The world economy, through efforts to improve efficiency, energy conservation and use of alternative energy, has become more flexible and resilient after surviving the last two oil crises. Even so, the world economy, already reeling from the US subprime crisis and widespread inflation, could not but feel exhausted as the international oil price remains high after topping 100 US dollars a barrel early this year and reaching $135 a barrel recently.
Leading oil guzzlers the United States and the European Union are currently facing more pressure than others. Frustrated by their own inability to ward off the impact of high oil price on the domestic front immediately, some American and European politicians are rehashing the old trick of diverting public attention elsewhere by blaming other parties for pushing the oil price sky high.
The short list of scapegoats they have produced begins with the OPEC nations for their refusal to increase output, followed by developing countries like China and India for their growing demands for energy resources. They are also blaming Russia and Venezuela, where oil and natural gas production is being nationalized. People should not be surprised when some American or European politicians add Iran and even Osama bin Laden to the blacklist for causing oil price to soar by destabilizing the Gulf region and terrorizing the whole world.
By pointing fingers at other parties they apparently hope to convince the public that the US and the European Union are the most innocent victims in this crisis. But are they really?
I do not know if this is a case of "a thief crying, stop the thief", but I do believe the US and Europe, especially the United States, are the main cause of the soaring oil price.
First of all, the weak US dollar is a key driving force behind the oil price hikes.
