OP, there is one thing I've never really quite understood, and maybe you can help.

It is to do with the oil - the producers and consumers. I have thought of them as been quite well controlled. So when I hear that someone is afraid of losing control of their oil to 'the other side' , I think, well they got to sell the stuff to someone, they cannot drink it. It is the case that the current producer and consumer are very closely linked, and very difficult to seperate, without a genuine war,as opposed to a fake war.

When I hear things like ISIS or the Shias have taken control of or about to take control of some oil field, it baffles me.

You have to sell the oil for USD, you need the SWIFT system to move the proceeds around, the SWIFT member must belong to the BIS etc, etc.

It seems an undesirable organization - Al Qaida, Boko Haram, ISIS, Shias etc - cannot successfully take control of some oil asset without the full 110% cooperation of the consumer.

Hence, it seems to me that the fear of losing control over oil asset is unfounded.