The lion wants his juice back

By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

"It's stalemate time in Libya. Like a lion resting under a tree, Muammar Gaddafi is surveying the odds of keeping power. He knows rebels have what it takes to defend Zawiya, Misrata and Brega, yet lack the means to attack. Having lost control of 80% of Libya's oil fields and refineries, he wants his juice back. Africa's ''king of kings'' knows Brega is key - and next time, he'll go for the kill....

.....Doomsday practitioners already visualize Algeria's oil production - 1.4 million barrels a day - soon going down the drain alongside Libya's. No wonder the head of oil research at Barclays Capital, Paul Horsnell, says things can potentially be worse than Iran 1979; "The world has only 4.5 million barrels per day of spare capacity." "