UW professor: Bin Laden’s death won’t impact price of oil

Omnipresent in Wyoming is the potential for international events to affect the supply, demand and price of oil. Just a $1 change in the average annual price of oil or natural gas translates into tens of millions of dollars in revenue lost or gained by Wyoming’s coffers.

In the case of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, neither the man or the organization has control over energy supplies short of attacking energy facilities — which have not been major targets.

“I doubt that much al Qaeda would do … would contribute to prices in the oil market,” said Marianne Kamp, associate professor of history at the University of Wyoming.

Europeans worry about waves of refugees and migration due to instability in the Middle East and North Africa, but Kamp noted that that type of migration had been taking place since long before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When it comes to political volatility making waves in the energy markets, recent revolutions  to oust dictators has more potential for impact than the death of bin Laden, said Kamp.

“It opens big questions for investors and companies who are invested there, so I see those revolutions as much more important,” said Kamp.

— Contact Dustin Bleizeffer at 307-577-6069 or dustin@wyofile.com.