Don’t be cynical enough to believe this article. We know that God and guts won’t let the United States down, don’t we? There will be plenty of oil to consume.
The oil price will shoot back through $100 a barrel as soon as economic conditions return to normal, and will break through $200 threshold by 2030, say officials at the International Energy Agency.
“While market imbalances could temporarily cause prices to fall back, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the era of cheap oil is over,” says the IEA in the World Energy Outlook report, obtained by the Financial Times ahead of its release next week.
Oil prices have endured a rollercoaster ride this year during some of the most volatile trading on record. Crude climbed relentlessly from $96 a barrel in January to a record $147 by mid-July, spelling misery for drivers.
Households also suffered as wholesale gas and electricity prices – which are linked to those of oil – soared to record levels and were swiftly passed on in higher fuel bills. Oil’s rise was also a main driver for soaring inflation in the UK, which doubled in six months to nearly 5%. But the intensification of the financial crisis this autumn has depressed the oil price to $60-$70 a barrel…
But the IEA cautions the low oil price will be short-lived. It expects oil to trade at an average of more than $100 a barrel between now and 2015 as supply shortages become a reality.
#26
“Small cars are OK for Europe, but Americans have self respect and need worthy vehicles.”
To some extent I quite agree with you. It is essential for people in the US to drive enormous cars: it is the only real protection against the ever present danger of falling into a pothole in the road.
In Europe and Japan, the roads are, by and large, decently paved, making the use of such dinosaurs unnecessary.
Once the US improves its infrastructure to at least the standards of the late 1950s, maybe you will find that smaller cars are perfectly adequate.
Uncle Patso
BS
If ever their was proof that there is NO relationship with supply and demand last month is proof. My friends who own oil wells all turned them off last week. When the price gets right they will turn them back on. Their is plenty if the price is right. Their is definatly a relationship between PRICE and supply. BUT THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF OIL.
# 33 Mr Truther said:
“Uncle Patso
BS
If ever their was proof that there is NO relationship with supply and demand last month is proof. My friends who own oil wells all turned them off last week. When the price gets right they will turn them back on. Their is plenty if the price is right. Their is definatly a relationship between PRICE and supply. BUT THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF OIL.”
Seriously, I generally try not to be insulting, but it’s difficult at times.
Let’s see if I can put this simply enough for you to understand it:
Did you ever take any 8th grade math? Are you familiar with the concept of infinity?
* Nothing on the Earth is infinite — nothing.
* That means there is only so much of anything, including oil.
* That means one day it will all be gone.
* The faster we use it up the sooner it will all go away.
* Corollary: If we are still dependent on it by then, we will be up Shit Creek. In deep doo-doo. Royally screwed. Officially having a Bad Day.
I do not agree with you that there’s no shortage of oil, but even if it were true, think about it: we are using more and more of it all the time. We are using it up faster and faster, and now the Billions in China and India (SEVEN TIMES as many people as there are in the U.S.) want to do the same. Even at the current rate of use, current known reserves are not enough to last fifty years; more like twenty. That may seem like a long time to you, but it is not. That means if you have a young child at home, he or she will probably die as a soldier in the Petroleum Wars of eighteen years from now. As it is likely that you and I, if we are still alive then, will also. Chances are not good for my wonderful brother nor for my two remaining beautiful sisters nor for all my lovely and talented nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews. And that PISSES ME THE HELL OFF!
So ride a goddam bus once in a while; take a train; buy a smaller car; move closer to work, or at least work closer to home; insulate your home; spend some serious time considering just how do the Amish live without electricity and gasoline; seriously urge your oil well-owning friends to invest in solar, wind and tidal power; and STOP WASTING MY PRECIOUS PETROLEUM! Or we’ll all meet in the ash pits that used to be our lovely cities.
Good night and good luck.