Much of the rapid increases in the price of crude oil during two of the last three supply shocks has been attributed to increased private inventory demand stimulated by the expectation of speculative profits. Government intervention in any future disruption is likely to take the form of releases...

In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, touching off an economic, financial, diplomatic, and military crisis associated with a tremendous spike in oil prices and recession in OECD and oil-importing developing countries. But was the Gulf Crisis a disruption? Did it affect the fabric of oil trade? To...