Peak Oil on USAToday front page

Peak Oil is now the front page story on USA Today, the largest newspaper in the United States by print circulation.

- For the online edition of this article, Firefox users who have a problem with the main link may try the alternate link instead.

usatoday.com (alternate) :

A vocal minority of experts says world oil production is at or near its peak. Existing wells are tiring. New discoveries have disappointed for a decade. If the "peak oil" advocates are correct, today's transient shortages and high prices will soon become a permanent way of life. As global demand rises, American consumers will find themselves in a bidding war with others around the world for scarce oil supplies.

Both sides in the peak oil controversy agree that oil is a finite resource and that every year, the world consumes more oil than it discovers. But those are about the only things they agree upon. "Peak oil" believers disparage those who disagree as mere "economists" in thrall to the magic of the marketplace or simple-minded "optimists" who assume every new well will score. When they're not trading insults, the two sides disagree fiercely over the likelihood of future technology breakthroughs, prospects for so-called unconventional fuel sources such as oil sands and even the state of Saudi Arabia's reserves.

In recent months, the peak oil camp has received support from some fairly sober quarters, including the U.S. government. A 91-page study prepared in February for the Energy Department concluded: "The world is fast approaching the inevitable peaking of conventional world oil production ... (a problem) unlike any yet faced by modern industrial society."

(2005-10-18 08:31:08 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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