Looming Oil Crisis

The Guardian has a sobering article warning of an oil crisis that could be arriving much sooner than analysts have predicted.

One of the world's leading energy analysts yesterday called for an independent assessment of global oil reserves because he believed that Middle Eastern countries may have far less than officially stated and that oil prices could double to more than $100 a barrel within three years, triggering economic collapse

...

Mr Simmons told the meeting that it was inevitable that the price of oil would soar above $100 as supplies failed to meet demand. "Demand is pulling away from supply...and we have to ask whether we have the resources that we think we do. It could be catastrophic if we do not anticipate when peak oil comes."

The precise arrival of peak oil is hotly debated by academics and geologists, but analysts increasingly say that official US Geological Survey estimates that it will not happen for 35 years are over-optimistic.

When one considers just how many products we consume on a regular basis are derived in part from oil--just think of everything around you right now that has plastic in it--this would be disasterous for the global economy.