The arguments are so one-sided, it’s practically a given that “peak oil” is real and threatening. Or is it? This article examines both sides. It lets readers decide and deals only with supply issues, not crucial environmental ones and the need to develop alternative energy sources. First some background.
The name most associated with “peak oil” is M. King Hubbert. He became the world’s best known geologist when he worked for Houston-based Shell Oil Company from 1943 to 1964. His theory goes something like this. Oil is a finite resource. Peak …

The grab-your-gun-and-head-for-the-hills scenario goes something like this: In the next year or so, world oil production will peak and then promptly plummet, forced down by sinking reserves. While supply crashes, demand will grow. Virtually overnight, fuel will become so dear that farm tractors will go idle, people will go hungry and homes will go cold. Financial markets will collapse and social chaos will follow.
Are you ready?
The doomsday image may sound like the half-baked plot of a Schwarzenegger flick, but thousands of North Americans are taking it seriously enough to stock …

President Bush said Wednesday that the United States has to “get off oil” to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and declared “it should be obvious” that high demand is creating painful gasoline prices.Bush’s assessment was at odds with that from the 13-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which said before he spoke that it would not put more oil on the global market because crude supplies are plentiful.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil told reporters in Vienna, Austria, that the problems in the U.S. economy were a key factor in the cartel’s …

Crude oil was little changed near $100 a barrel in New York after falling yesterday on speculation OPEC will keep output unchanged at the same time as U.S. inventories gain.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will make “no change” to quotas when it meets in Vienna after oil surged to a record on March 3, President Chakib Khelil said yesterday. A U.S. government report today may show that oil stockpiles rose for an eighth week as demand slowed. Copper, gold, zinc and aluminum dropped.
“There have been a lot of emotions …

Energy companies last night launched a pre-emptive strike on the government ahead of next week’s budget, warning that any windfall tax on the industry would undermine investment in green power projects and other measures to combat climate change.
The companies fear ministers are considering a windfall tax on the industry after a public outcry greeted moves to raise household bills by as much as 15% in recent weeks.
British Gas, whose Centrica parent group is behind a number of wind farm and other renewable schemes, said it was vital companies had a …