Ernest Wilson has an interesting piece here on what he calls the "petro-political cycle." He writes, "At the top of the petro-political cycle"--precisely where we seem to be at present--"third world suppliers can both raise the prices they charge for their petroleum, and also try to alter some of the basic rules of the game." Furthermore, "we should expect to see more political assertiveness from exporting countries." As the comments on his post indicate, his timing was impeccable given Bolivia's nationalization of its oil and gas industry on Monday, one day after Wilson's post.