Greed greed and more greed. No real market demand or US citizens dire economic straits mean diddly shit to exec's. Perhaps it's time we tell opec and sudis to go fuck themselves and make their own military equipment and by the way, see if the US offers any defense help. But first we have to get the greedy defense manufacturers and lobbyists under control.
But the most salient reason — the one offered by 60 percent of respondents — was that investors don’t want companies to produce a lot more oil, fearing that it will hasten the end of high oil prices.