The Dutch are rationing at least partly out of embarrassment because of previously instituted conservation measures that were less stringent than those of their unembargoed neighbors.

The gloom that has enveloped the industrialized West since the Arabs unsheathed their oil weapon in October lightened last week. Arab nations announced an easing of their production cutbacks—and around the world, there was growing suspicion that they never did slash oil output as much as they had…