According to ReportonBusiness.com:
WASHINGTON — Matt Simmons sounds the alarm like the Cassandra of the oil industry, warning that crude production has peaked and that looming energy shortages could derail global growth and even spark armed conflict.As a prominent “peak oil” theorist, the veteran oil industry financier paints a grim picture of a world facing resource scarcity. Still, it doesn’t take a “peak-ist” to conclude that the global oil producers will find it increasingly difficult to keep up with growing demand.
He squared off yesterday against other experts who argue that the world has yet to reach the physical limits of oil production. But while they disagreed on the extent of the problem, the panelists at a U.S. Department of Energy conference in Washington concurred that future crude production will be constrained by physical, economic and political factors that add up to tight markets and higher oil prices.
Despite oil prices that have topped $100 (U.S.) a barrel, there was little sense at yesterday’s conference, put on by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, that high prices would spark either a boost in oil output or a sharp fall in global demand.
Record pump prices – and a sharply slowing economy – have cut into U.S. demand, which represents 25 per cent of the world’s total. But analysts who follow the emerging economies said there is no sign yet that triple-digit crude prices have seriously dented demand in China or India.
Global demand for oil will continue to grow, analysts forecast, even as the developed world reduces consumption in the face of high prices and environmental concerns. Economic growth and rising living standards in developing countries like China, India and the Middle East will more than offset reduced energy consumption in the mature economies of North America and Europe.
The views of Mr. Simmons, who runs Houston-based Simmons & Assoc. investment bank, bordered on apocalyptic.
Oil shortages “could lead to social chaos and war,” he warned. “The issue is the most serious risk to sustaining the 21st century. Peak oil is real, and we have to take it seriously.” He argued that production of conventional crude peaked in May, 2005, at 74 million barrels a day.
Read the full article at ReportonBusiness.com
- This is not really news as most peak oil theorist or researchers are almost certain of what was mentioned in this article. Some are more pessimistic then others while some are optimistic commodity investors or somewhere in between like me that listens to both side and make my own judgment and views.
There are views that the world cannot be changed overnight by a single person but can change by a single news report with the strange revelation that wakes the public up to realities of the constrain of Earth’s limited resources.
The greed of human nature will ensure higher prices in commodities like oil, gold, silver, biofuel, corn, wheat, palm oil and etc with disregard to the social impact to the poor who don’t invest. We however cannot blame these people as they are only reasonable to allocate funds in investments that will potentially give them the best returns of investment ignoring the millions of poor and hungry people surviving without proper supply of affordable food and electricity.
life as we know it comes to a point in time when money does not matter any more when the cost of living becomes too much to sustain for the middle income group to support the addiction to the “growth” of economies that are currently artificially revived many times by Feds who had defended that their actions does not affect the “Free Economies”.
There are reasons why the market goes up or down, this is the market forces at play and if it’s artificially supported to maintain a steady “growth” over a period of time, I fear it’s only increasing the chances of a greater collapse of the coming depression.
Gold in the early days are almost essential to almost everything like jeweleries, electrical conductors, fake teeth and gold coins. It was then with certainly to be the number one commodity with the highest value and with the highest demand, however in the new 21st century where all these are replaced with relatively cheap replacements and Gold are no longer traded physically but on virtual websites instead, the actual gold quantity are reduced to just digital numbers that no one person can be 100% sure to be backed by real physical gold.
What I am trying to say is, does your paper asset on gold give you liquidity during crisis? Can you cash out your “digital” gold in cash fast enough before the banks run? Can you exchange physical gold for water, food, and shelter in a real crisis? Do anyone even knows how to separate real 100% gold with gold plated iron bar?
Is your gold worth the value when the big depression comes to your door steps? Will your investment turns into a pipe dream?
Well, for many optimistic people…Gold is still considered a sound investment compared to other types of risky investments.
To me, the best investment is the basic fundamental of life’s requirement such as water, food and renewable energy.
Yet I find it interesting that investments are not 100% used for developing a sustainable habitat for major cities that CAN NEVER LIVE WITHOUT imports of fossil fuels like natural gas, crude oil, coal, uranium for nuclear and may one day unable to sustain the ever growing demand.
I urge people to take this seriously and make it an effort to create your very own sustainable projects and if more 50% of the people starts to self sustain themselves then the world may continue without conflicts for a few more years or probably survive another generation.
Popularity: 1% [?]
