Negative Supply
The major energy consuming countries of the world are mostly the developed countries. The oil importers grouped themselves in Paris, France under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) composed originally of 16 major importers but has grown into 23 member-countries and now to 30. The overall policy of the OECD is to coordinate oil policies of members. The urgent need for the OECD is devise a policy that will address energy supplies security. It has two measures to do this: (1) member-countries are to hold emergency reserve stocks equal to 90 days of net oil imports as buffer and (2) implement a set of emergency response measure in cases of supply disruptions. As an example, the U.K. was vulnerable when the Suez Canal was closed in 1956 and again in 1967.
Supply disruptions
However, up to now, there is still no realistic plan in place that addresses energy security concerns. The U.K., the U.S.A., and most of Europe do not have excess oil refining capacity which should be part of contingency energy plans. Excess refineries allow nations to buy or source crude oil from anywhere in case one region suffers supply disruptions due to war, natural calamity, or political upheaval. The International Energy Agency was formed by the OECD to make the international oil industry more transparent to everybody. Government oil reserves are to be used only in emergency cases and are not intended to influence or lower domestic prices. Experts also warned against lowering the gasoline tax to reduce pump prices. They say it is not only counterproductive but also negates conservation measures. For cerebral articles on the whole international oil industry, this site is an excellent source for a good scholarly perspective: