Any explanation?

Sir Sheila McNulty reports in “Profit at Conoco mask oil industry’s problems” January 24 why even with high oil prices international oil companies find themselves with limited access to resources and an unclear path for investment, and which obviously must impact the availability of oil around the world.

In reference to this may I ask why on earth have not the consumers and the oil producers been able to agree on long term supply/take up contracts based on a reasonable initial price; and slowly adjusted to the real markets by means of a running twenty-year average moving price? The governments could help out, acting as buffers, for instance by charging gasoline taxes also in accordance with the price stabilization scheme.

I truly do not understand why no government from an oil consuming country has not empowered some agents to go out in the market and negotiate on their behalf some decent terms on oil for its constituency; exactly the same way I cannot understand why the government from a producing country has not gone out there to negotiate some of the stability that their economy and constituency need.

Clearly the incentives of having long term contracts at reasonable and stable prices would help the much needed investments in oil exploration to take off.