Probably not. As long as we live under capitalism, oil is likely to be traded as a commodity. There will be political attempts to manipulate the price, but I don't think they can be successful for very long. There's too much incentive for sellers to cheat, or operate outside the cartel.
Which is why I thought it didn't make any difference for the oil markets had Iraq's hostile takeover of Kuwait succeeded. It would have made a difference for Kuwaitis, but that's another story. Doug
Off-hand, it is possible a development-oriented Arab regime would seek to exploit its resources more rapidly, and for good reasons, which would tend to reduce market prices. Oligarchs can afford to restrict output for the sake of maximizing prices. They already get far more income than they can consume, and reserves are just more money in the ground. In this sense, Iraqi control would signify more downward pressure than Kuwaitii, at least until the world blew up. mbs