Judging by the political developments in Libya and the current price of petroleum, you’d think that Libya was some sort of heavyweight exporter. Last fall West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil was trading at less than $85 per barrel on the spot market. Protests in Libya started in February, and WTI reached $99 per barrel in early March. Granted, Libya isn’t the only country in the region recently shaken by a political disturbance. Protests in Tunisia in December spread to Egypt in January, then Libya in February.

Still, they’re lightweights. (more...)