Slate: But the quiet response is also a sign of something bigger. It's a subtle demonstration of how North America's fracking-fueled oil boom is paying dividends by making the world market more resilient.
Energy traders always add a fear premium onto oil. When instability (a raging civil war, for instance) hits a major petro-producer, prices race up, as buyers start to fret about potential nightmare scenarios that would cut off their supply. In the case of Iraq, that might mean attacks on pipelines or...