Peak oil from an investors viewpoint
Even though the slight decline in fuel prices might have reduced the worry in some of us, more and more investors are starting to believe we are now close to the peak of global oil production. If the world is currently at or near its peak oil capacity, it would mean the end for cheap and abundant crude in the near future. While some might say the lack of abundant oil has already lead to war, things could get significantly worse, according to some geologists' theory known as peak oil. Clearly, this would have significant impact on the financial markets worldwide, and some investors are trying to capitalize on this looming crisis. Bloomberg has an extensive article on the different predictions on when the world will reach peak oil. While everyone agrees the world will eventually run out of oil, predictions as to when it will happen vary widely. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, will be releasing a study on peak oil in November. Some sources have predicted peak oil to be reached as early as 2001, something that clearly did not happen. Many parallels can be drawn between the peak oil predictions and some of the early research and discussions on global warming. While some parts of the world are slowly trying to get a grasp on reducing global warming, it seems we are much less prepared to deal with peak oil, no matter when it happens. [Source: Bloomberg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason Coyne 12:00PM (9/06/2006)
Doesn't one problem kind of solve the other? If we hit peak oil, my guess is that will take care of contributing to global warming pretty quickly.
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MikeW 4:38PM (9/06/2006)
I hope the US can be debt free by peak oil. That slide from (best case) 2050 to 2075 doesn't look pretty.
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carbonsink 1:16AM (9/07/2006)
"Doesn't one problem kind of solve the other? If we hit peak oil, my guess is that will take care of contributing to global warming pretty quickly."
No. Peak Oil will probably make global warming worse, because we will start using so-called 'unconventional oil' such as tar sands, coal-to-oil, oil shale etc. These are all very energy intensive to produce. You might have to burn two barrels of oil to make three, so the amount of CO2 produced per mile driven will be more, because so much energy was required to make the fuel in the first place.
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