Free Crossing Savage by Dave Edlund

formed by non-biological mechanisms. And at least the Russians and Ukrainians have been exploiting that thinking to find new reserves. So why kill these researchers? But you just said it, Professor. You are not funded by an oil company. Why not?”
    â€œWell, they aren’t interested in studying moons. That’s pretty clear.”
    â€œI think that’s a bit too simplistic. With an understanding of extra-planetary geology and how hydrocarbons were formed on Titan, an enterprising company could very well invent a process to make oil.”
    â€œThere is no scientific basis to support your suggestion.” Professor Savage said, exasperated. “You must understand that any commercial process—most especially refining and petrochemical production—must be very economical in addition to being scientifically possible. Even if we discovered a chemical route to synthesize oil from minerals, that does not guarantee it is economical to practice.”
    â€œDad, I understand. But the first step is always the science. Once that is understood, then engineers will tackle the problem of process economics.”
    Professor Savage slumped in his chair and sighed. “You are arguing hypotheticals as if they were fact. How does this result in a threat to my life?”
    â€œIf oil producers thought there was a synthetic route to compete with production from known reserves, that could be a big motive.” Peter concluded.
    â€œExactly,” said Jim.
    Professor Savage stubbornly resisted. “Oh, come on. You don’t really think that an oil company has hired a bunch of hit men to knock off these researchers. That’s crazy!”
    â€œIs it?” Jim paused to let the implications sink in.
    â€œWho has more at stake than the big oil companies? Who owns more oil and gas reserves than Excelon, Trident, New Holland Oil, and British Energy combined?”
    Peter hesitated, now that he knew what Jim was driving at. “State-owned oil companies.”
    â€œThat’s right. Of the twenty largest oil companies, sixteen are owned by governments.”
    Peter took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “The cartel—OPEC.”
    The room suddenly seemed cold, and Peter felt the hair standing on his arms.
    â€œYes, the cartel. They would have the motive, and even more importantly, the means.”
    â€œCome now, conspiracy theories?” the Professor scoffed. “The OPEC countries have just as much to gain as we do. If Kenji and I are successful, and by some wild stretch of the imagination our work leads to a practical method to synthesize oil, which I think is highly unlikely, then all countries can enjoy energy independence.”
    â€œDon’t you see, Dad? Sure, they may have as much to gain as we do with a possibly infinite supply of synthetic oil, but economically, they have so much more to lose.”
    Before Professor Savage could argue further, Jim elaborated. “The OPEC countries live on the money made by selling oil to other countries. Saudi Arabia—one of the few OPEC countries that is, at least for now, publicly friendly to the U.S.—has stated that they feel oil should sell at, or above, a minimum price per barrel rather than trade at the relatively lower prices set by a truly open market. Western intelligence suggests that Venezuela and Iran need to sell their oil at twenty percent higher than the price advocated by the Saudis to continue to prop up their governments. If anyone could synthesize oil at a lower price—say half of the market price set by OPEC—the oil export market would collapse, along with the economies of those countries.
    â€œGranted, this is conjecture, but with a collapse of the export market it’s likely that some of the OPEC governments would also collapse—not necessarily a bad thing for the U.S., mind you.”
    Professor Savage was still unconvinced. “But if you are correct—and I don’t think