Peak Oil and Portfolio Prudence

For most of us, the holidays mean it’s time to shop for gifts. For investors, the end of the year also means it’s time to evaluate how their investments have done and consider changes for the coming year. This includes Peak Oil aware investors who should step back and take a good look at not just investment portfolios but also lifestyles to make sure both are in line with goals and objectives.

When I spoke at the ASPO-USA conference in Houston, I made a couple of key points concerning investing within the framework of Peak Oil. The first two dealt directly with investment assets while the third was really an assessment of the energy intensity of one


My presentation in Houston began with the observation that in nearly all asset allocation models, energy is lumped into the natural resource category of equities. This is where one finds all the energy funds in the Morningstar rankings. While it is hard to make clear distinctions within the large mutual fund industry, from the investor