Speculation surrounds oil peak

Thanksgiving marked the day that some analysts thought global oil production would have reached its peak, ushering in a new era of fuel shortages.

These petro-pessimists were using the same formula as the one that accurately predicted the apex of U.S. oil production in 1970

Matthew Simmons, author of “Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy,” is one of them. He thinks Saudi Arabia has pumped much of its usable reserves and will start to experience production declines..
Even analysts who are more optimistic warn that chronically high prices and occasional supply crunches are likely in the years ahead. The world’s consumers are using up nearly all the oil being produced today, and the outlook for growth of supplies is uncertain.

“In terms of prices, I think the risk is … it’s going to explode,” Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York last week.

Washington Times