Bob: "And econ 101 principles won't cut it. The Business Schools of the world, as well as every government, have been working on these problems in earnest since the early 70's and the problem hasn't been solved yet."

What problem?? Left alone, the free market will properly allocate resources, all resources not just oil. Government efforts to control markets have always failed and always will.

By the way, I heard no public outcry from the ordinary citizen when crude oil prices collapsed in 1986 and stayed low throughout the 1990's. Tens of thousands of employees lost their jobs and hundreds of companies went bankrupt in the oil patch. Of course, this helped to plant the seeds for the next supply side shortage. The history of the oil business is boom and bust. However, the function of markets is to properly allocate resources through good and bad times. Governments will never efficiently replace the market place.