Market forces have met their match in oil prices

Finding big new sources of energy may be difficult. The world isn’t running out of oil, but it may be running out of the giant fields that can make a meaningful contribution to world supplies. So far the major oil companies don’t seem to be in a hurry to step up exploration significantly. ”They tend to be pretty darn conservative,” said Henry Lee, an energy specialist at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. For the moment, the producers are using their extra cash to buy back stock and increase dividends, strategies that won’t do much to make oil more available.

Eventually prices will come down. ”Every boom sows the seeds for the next bust,” said Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a consulting firm. In this case, eventually may be a while. In the meantime, get used to gas at more than $2 a gallon.

Boston.com