Peak Oil final warnings from Matt Simmons (head of the oil investment bank Simmons and Company International) and Robert Hirsch (energy advisor) are beginning to resonate heavily in the world energy market.
(*please click on each name for their bio links)
It appears that Peak Oil has not only passed in 2005, but the oil industry is destabilizing due to the extremely low commodity prices on the oil market. Both men warn of a very serious situation now developing world wide regarding oil supply and bottlenecking and that the energy system is potentially spiraling out of control within the very near future. In a nutshell, we are looking at major supply destruction within the world energy system that cannot be undone.
Keep in mind that both men are veterans of the energy industry and for them to present this genre of analysis to the public is not a very good sign.
Is it already too late to implement alternate energy and transportation contingency plans?
(Brace for impact... mayday, mayday.)
This audio discussion is available at the Financial Sense website in multiple formats
I understand that oil prices were not an actual reflection of supply and demand for 2008 but we must realize that the end results will be identical to an actual accelerating drop in supply. Why? It's a self-fulfilling prophecy that has been innitiated...
ReplyDeleteWall Street trading artificially inflated the perceived value of oil commodities by creating a "speculative market bubble", similar to the housing market sub-prime bubble.
By artificially raising the price of oil to unheard of levels since the 1970's, this helped create the world-wide recession we are now experiencing. Industry is on stand-by and oil demand in the industrial world shrank as a result; demand dropped.
The problem with this is that projected world energy demand is on the increase, so this "little" economic hiccup acts as a buffer, hiding the actual projected world energy demand. Oil prices are down, so far down that the oil industry is REDUCING oil and gas exploration and drilling. It is reducing all investment in oil and gas production and refining capabilities. This is a very bad thing.
Everything has a certain time lag when it comes to corrections, especially the energy market. By the time the world realizes that our reserves of "cheap" oil are evaporating too quickly to be replenished at our now REDUCED rates of production, the oil industry will be unable to make up the gap between supply and demand. There will be a REAL energy shortage, and then the price will rise according to actual supply and demand. BUT, remember that our total available energy reserves are in decline. Not only will it be impossible to keep production at current demand levels, but the existing reserves are shrinking.
It is definitely not business-as-usual in the oil market today, especially in the long-term, but unfortunately, too many perceive this low crude oil price as normal and permanent...
This is the self-fulfilling prophecy - exponentially rising energy prices because of shrinking availability - in essence, the end of the current oil era. The cheap oil buffer that we are now experiencing after the 2008 rollercoaster ride will be our undoing.