When the Shrub took office oil was $12, by now it should be $15-18.
The play was to block Iran and Iraq, jack up the price, just as China needed lots of oil to develop.
Round two saw Libya taken out of production. Syria also produced a bit, but blocking oil ran out of options.
Iraq was back in production, and the Kurds were selling at cut rate prices. The other Syrian terrorists were also finding markets for oil. Price was falling, so the Saudis funded ISIS, with the intent of taking it over, where the Americans would have to bomb it. The Arabians even joined in, sending planes to bomb other oil fields.
The main goal, stop ISIS from selling $3 Million a day in oil.
So who does that help? The Saudis, and the major oil companies.
The worldwide economic slowdown has reduced demand, prices are falling, other energy supplies are being developed, the Russian gas deal with China, which could take half the Chinese demand, for 40 years, as China develops it's own.
Russia has lots of reserves in the far east, very far from it's european markets, that a pipeline to China solves. Russia also has most of the Arctic to develop. Besides that, they are proving a huge field just north of the Black Sea, and the whole sea bottom seems like a prospect that could supply the world for fifty years.
We are not running out of oil, and spilling blood to raise the price is immoral.
Assad is running out of moderate terrorists to kill, and the recent training offer, could not find 5,000.
By the best counts, he has killed over 100,000, so ISIS and the FSA are just a mop up.
The local play is arm the Kurds, while keeping ISIS in check at both ends, so they kill each other.
Then an Iran to Syria pipeline brings endless oil and gas to southern Europe.
This is all about who will get to supply markets.