RWB

BP CEO: Three Oil Myths

Resource nationalism makes good sense if you are lucky enough to live in a country that produces more oil than it consumes--especially a country that doesn't have much else going for it, like Saudi Arabia. Leaving oil in the ground provides income for future generations. The fact that it hurts the world economy right now is, frankly, someone else's problem. The fact that it encourages a modicum of research and investment in alternative energies in consuming nations is not a worry, because no matter what, you know that civilization is going to need oil for decades to come. If I were running Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, I'd slowstep drilling and new production too.