Well, there's that and the fact that historically oil is an (economic) weapon. Some ecomonies are more susceptible to price changes than others. Some can use th

Well, there's that and the fact that historically oil is an (economic) weapon. Some ecomonies are more susceptible to price changes than others. Some can use that weapon proactively, others can so nothing but reactively suffer the consequences. For example, when the USA allowed fracking production to hockey stick (started under Bush #2 and took off under Obama), the international price dropped significantly. That hurt countries such as Venezuela and Russia. Oil is like a drug. Once you're hooked you're no longer free.