ABSTRACT
The world economy has been undergoing a radical transformation over the past half-century, from one based on significant government intervention in the form of regulation and planning to one based more and more on market forces. The oil market is one example of this trend, as it has moved away from contracts or government relationships between specific buyers and producers to a global market system based on competitive bidding and price discovery through the commercial dealings of a vast number of players. The United States, as a world power and energy consumer, favors an open, transparent, competitive global market for oil in which no seller or group of sellers can dominate the market and thereby threaten the access of the US or its allies to purchase the supplies of oil needed to conduct normal everyday consumer business and military operations.
