The Peak Oil Crisis: The Washington Post Meets Peak Oil Lite

For those who aren’t ready to buy into the concept of world oil production going into decline in the next few years, there is a less worrisome subset making the rounds known as “peak oil lite.”

Those adopting this outlook have rightly noted that gasoline is selling for unheard of prices and don’t subscribe to the idea that evil speculators, evil oil companies, or evil OPEC is the cause of this unfortunate happenstance. They also correctly recognize demand for oil, especially from China, India and oil producing states, has outstripped the ability of the oil industry to increase supplies fast enough.

Notably absent from peak oil lite, however, is the notion world oil production has not increased appreciably in the last 3 or 4 years and is poised to start dropping very soon. Thus “peak lite” believers readily acknowledge there is a supply/demand problem pushing up prices, but do not go so far as to internalize the serious consequences of declining world production.

A good example of peak lite appeared last month in a front-page Washington Post series on the current world oil situation. After many years of writing around the problem, the Post finally bit the bullet and tackled the coming storm head on by examining “the economic forces that have unhinged oil prices.”

Falls Church News-Press