Crude Oil Prices

Interesting chart from Chart of the Day:

Today's chart illustrates that most oil price spikes coincided with Middle East crises and often preceded or coincided with a US recession. The logic behind this is that a Middle East crisis can potentially disrupt an already tight oil supply and thereby drive crude oil prices higher. Also, rising oil / energy prices can, among other things, increase costs within the global economy's supply / distribution chain and thereby contribute to inflation which can in turn encourage governments to halt or reduce any plans to stimulate the economy.

 So, you'd think that a government sitting on some of the world's largest reserves of energy (see here) would be pushing development of that energy to ease the "tight oil supply" so as to unleash its plans to "stimulate the economy," wouldn't you?

Wouldn't you?