Georgia matters to the West because the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline runs from Azerbaijan through Georgia and into Turkey. Other pipelines from Baku (Azerbaijan) are the Baku-Supsa pipeline also through Georgia which runs to the Black Sea. These are about the only way of getting oil out of Caspian region without going through Russia or Iran- neither of which are attractive options. The Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline goes through Russia, also to the Black sea. BP, which has a 30% share of the BTC pipeline, shut it down during the conflict ( I am not sure if it is open again). The Russians would like to dominate the export of oil from Central Asia for obvious reasons. In a worst -case scenario, losing the supply through these pipelines would have an effect on prices even if they do not supply much to the US, because it will increase competition for oil supply from other source by, for instance, Europe (who have deeper pockets than most).