With the price of oil crossing $110 a barrel, the oil-importing countries' concerns have been mounting. Not surprisingly, the issue of whether the time is now ripe for energy consuming countries to take measures to counter the producers' growing clout is being discussed, including the formation of a consumers' cartel, to force exporters to bring down prices.
The oil price Conundrum
As the saying goes, everything that goes up had to come down. The same holds true for the price of oil, which has seen a slide of around 55% in just three months. At one point of time there were even predictions that prices would reach $200 a barrel. However, currently, the price of oil has dropped to $68 a barrel, from a high of over $147 in July this year. But the question is how and more importantly, why did this happen, and in such a short time.