[Graeme]

Peak oil means inevitably higher prices

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')oper lives in Blacksburg and is professor emeritus of physics at Virginia Tech.

There are several reasons why gasoline prices are rising. The underlying reason is that world oil extraction is peaking. The oil companies know this. That is why they have not been building more refineries; they know that there will be less oil to refine in the years ahead. To keep track of the decline in oil extraction in the months and years ahead, view www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/ipsr/t14.xls regularly.

The decline in oil extraction is inevitable. Oil discoveries for the world peaked in 1966 at about 56 billion barrels per year and now we are lucky if the discoveries are 5 billion to 10 billion barrels per year. We cannot extract oil from the Earth if it has not been discovered.

Even worse is the oil discovered per capita for the world, because of the increase in world population. In 1966 at the discovery peak it was about 17 barrels per person per year, now it is about one barrel per person per year. Since extraction follows discovery by about 40 years later, in 40 years there will be about 95 percent less oil available for use by each person in the world. We must start planning now for that huge decrease.

That is another reason that we need to quit burning gasoline and diesel, which are made from oil. We need a crash program to greatly quicken the pace of converting transportation to railways and electric/hybrid/biofueled vehicles.

[pup55]

http://peakoil.com/fortopic2577.html

http://peakoil.com/fortopic797.html

Roper was publishing articles on PO as far back as the late 70's. Also, he was doing some work on forecasting the depletion rate of various minerals and metals based on Hubbert theory.

I believe he is a registered poster on this site, as well.

[shakespear1]

Another reason is that with time there will be more of this ...

$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', 'Noble's first West African attempt comes up dry

Noble Energy Inc. plans to abandon the first of six to eight planned wells in West Africa in search of commercial hydrocarbons.

The Adriana Southwest prospect, in 1,500 feet of water off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, was drilled to a depth of 12,638 feet before the Houston-based company decided to cap the well and move on.')

This a tough game and people are looking in tough places

[shortonoil]

Peak oil means inevitably higher prices

It does until the fiat, debt based currency that the world operates with, collapses. After that, the little oil we will still be using, will be mostly traded. With the world’s petro-currency already being heavily monetized to keep the show rolling, that should be between $80 to $90 per barrel; the day when not many will accept $ for oil, and the US can no longer take it at gunpoint. Two to five years would be a safe bet!

[kaktus]

Are there really any "safe bets"? Betting is about uncertainties.
In a depressed economy, normally, prices go down but people dont want to or can't invest. Which gives people less work to do. And when you dont have money everything is expensive.

My bet therefor is that prices on energy will go up as long as we're in the current economy. When/if we shift into a depressed economy all prices will go down. one question is what will go down the least. My bet is land (and weapons). Then should you buy now or try to save money until the prices start to go down?