The Cost of Oil - What Is It All About?

OPEC has played a key role in determining the cost of energy since its inception in 1960. The 1973 Arab oil embargo was orchestrated by OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia. If Russia were to withhold some of its exports for the intentional purpose of crippling the global economy, they could do so easily. There's almost no limit to how big the resulting oil price spike would be or how crippling it would be to the global economy.