Global crude oil prices have been falling in recent weeks, bringing relief to motorists at the pump - and angst to members of OPEC.

The oil cartel still controls most of the world's oil reserves. But it lacks the market power it once wielded. The days are over when an Arab oil embargo could cripple the U.S. economy, as happened during the mid-1970s. An era of abundance has dawned, thanks largely to North American shale-oil and tar-sands producers.

Some traders and analysts expect a global surplus of oil in coming years, as well as a boom in the production of natural gas. Given robust supplies, oil prices are likely to stay relatively low, financial markets indicate. Those lower prices are just what the economy needs to stimulate job creation, business investment and an overdue rise in middle-class living standards.

President Barack Obama should be doing more to boost the U.S. petroleum sector. His administration puts great effort and taxpayer funding into so-called green energy, but many Obama-backed subsidies for wind, solar, ethanol and other renewables haven't paid off. The administration also needs to get out of the way of useful private-sector energy projects, the most obvious being the Keystone XL pipeline. That new supply route is needed for the safe transportation of Canadian oil to American refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. Approve it, already.

Still, to an increasing extent in recent years, the federal government has given grudging support to domestic oil's comeback. The administration has loosened restrictions on drilling permits, for instance, and opened up more federal lands and offshore sites for drilling. Contrary to the wishes of liberal environmentalists, the administration hasn't tried to put a stop to fracking - the transformative drilling technology that enables producers to tap previously out-of-reach reserves.

During his State of the Union speech in January, the president noted that America had produced more oil at home than it bought from the rest of the world - "the first time that's happened in 20 years," Obama marveled. A president who came into office promising to reduce the nation's dependence on oil in favor of renewables now embraces what he calls an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy.

Apparently, "Drill, baby, drill," wasn't such a bad idea after all.

As a result, the American public has less to fear from OPEC. The cartel and its kingpin - Saudi Arabia - still could roil the market if its ministers decide to sharply cut output when they meet next month. But that's unlikely: OPEC has good reason to act with restraint.

Cutting production would encourage competing suppliers to produce more, and give a boost to the conservation efforts that are gathering steam not only in the developed world but in China as well (where the ruling Communist Party is under pressure to curb air pollution).

We doubt OPEC will overplay its hand. There are other risks: Oil prices could shoot up again if fighting in the Middle East spills into the important oil fields of southern Iraq, for example. Nevertheless, energy markets, including long-dated futures contracts for 2017 and beyond, indicate moderate prices ahead. Who's afraid of big, bad OPEC now?