Right now, things look good in the oil patch; prices are around $70 a barrel and some think the U.S. will be energy independent in a few years. But if war breaks out in the Middle East, experts say a world oil glut could quickly become a shortage.
Bill Drennen is CEO of Houston's WTD Resources.
"In my opinion, there will be some disruption coming out of the Middle East region if something like an explosion was to occur in the Straits of Hormuz and shut down that fair way."
Rick Slemaker is an energy industry publisher. He says it's basic economics.
"If you're building something and the supply's cut off -- and it's a major supplier -- then the cost goes up for everyone else."
Right now the Saudis are saber rattling with their arch enemy, Iran.
Drennen says there's reason for worry.
"Conventional wisdom would say the oil price would probably shoot up to the $100 mark; I've seen things in the press in the past couple of weeks that people talk about $150 if there was such a disruption, but I just don't think we'd get that high."
Drennen says $100 oil would only be temporary. He says the U.S. may be close to becoming energy independent, so it shouldn't be as bad as it was ten years ago.