Originally Posted by Rochard

I have no idea how OPEC came into being. If I was forced to guess, I would say it had something to do with the close of WWII, in which oil played a huge part - Countries couldn't fight if they didn't have oil.

In 1973 they brought us to our knees with their gas embargo because of our support of Israel. I don't remember this, I was too young; But I know about it because of the history of the automotive industry and how cars changed drastically over night. They can do it again too.

What to do about it? Simple. Go to Mexico and Canada and tell them they need to leave OPEC or we won't buy any oil from them. I'm guessing Mexico and Canada would rather deal with us directly. Venezuela? They'll fold too. Why? Simple. If oil is $100 a barrel but they have to ship it to Europe it's going to cost them four times as much to get it there.