Interesting article in the Guardian over the weekend stressing the insurance giants view that we need to start preparing for the imminent arrival of peak oil… now. Among others, Lloyds quotes the famous US Dept of Energy report highlighting the economic chaos that would result from declining oil production as global demand continued to rise, recommending a crash programme to overhaul the transport system.
Peak Oil of course is not new, ASPO have been predicting it for around a decade and oil investment banker Matt Simmons has long been pushing for greater openness around actual proven oil reserves (a subject that most oil producing nations keep top secret).
There is no contention that the US oil fields peaked decades ago, the North Sea has peaked as have most other developed oil fields – leaving just the Saudi’s to pick up the slack. How long they can keep this up is the multi trillion dollar question.
Unless you want sleepless nights, best forget about this article. However, just 10 minutes of googling will tell you the cheap and un-interrupted energy we’ve become accustomed to isn’t going to be cheap for much longer…