"Oil Be Back"

Suddenly everybody in the US of A is wondering why nobody did anything about this looming crisis for so many years. (And hey, WP, check the error correction on that story - whoops!)

And apparently we are supposed to feel sorry for the oil majors now too:

Of course, with a barrel of oil at more than 140 US dollars, they are seeing major profits, but the future has never seemed so uncertain.

The problem is access to reserves. The oil majors now control less than 10 percent of world resources of gas and oil, against 70 percent in the 1970s, according to figures released by the office of Ernst and Young at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid.

As a result they are being forced to explore in increasingly extreme conditions.

Here's an idea: why not fully nationalise Iraq's oil? Hmmn? Hello, Washington, can you hear me yet????