Oil And Peace Apparently Don't Mix

It's a small world after all -- with an even smaller oil supply. That's what U.S. energy experts, oil companies, and national-security planners are concluding as they try to project America's and the world's oil demand versus declining supplies in coming years. Military planners in particular, aware of the interconnectedness of, if not all things, at least oil markets, intend to spend millions on oil-price-stabilization projects in emerging oil regions like the Caspian Sea and West Africa. One project, to cost $100 million over the next decade, is the Caspian Guard -- a network of special-ops units and police intended to secure oil facilities in the region, though almost none of the Caspian oil will reach U.S. markets. Most worrisome to strategists is the role China and India will play in increasing oil demand worldwide. Already, government-owned oil companies in the two countries are forging production partnerships with Iran and Sudan.

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