Not Even This

Somali pirates hijack Saudi tanker loaded with oil and front-month crude slides $2 to under $55 a barrel, a fresh 22-month low. One wonders what could lift prices.

That said, you've got to be wondering about these pirates. I wouldn't go messing with the Saudis or stealing from them if I were a pirate. I hear Saudis can hurt people they don't like, and I hear Saudi jurisprudence is swift.

I know this sounds crazy, but if you were Saudi Arabia and you were desperately trying to prop up the price of oil, wouldn't you be willing to pay "ransom" to the pirates to hijack a tanker you owned? As long as you pay the pirates less than you expect to make in profit from the rise in oil prices, you'd win no matter whose idea the hijacking was. Maybe the pirates are smart after all.

Then again, oil went down, not up, after this stunt. Whoever came up with the idea, oil bears yawned at it today.