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Wednesday 31 December 2008

In reality, the big elephant fields that the world depends on are already past, at or near peak. Mexico’s Cantarell field is dropping much faster than expected. New discoveries can’t replace these big fields, the last of which was found decades ago — and many of the new finds are questionable at best. Global production has been stagnant for several years, despite (until recently) skyrocketing demand. More exporting countries are withholding oil for their domestic needs. Domestic “drill, baby, drill” could only replace a tiny fraction of American demand. Bet you haven’t read any of this in your local Lite newspaper. This gathering storm has been cloaked by several factors, among them the secrecy of the Saudis concerning their actual reserves and production; poor reporting by the American media; a fundamental misreading of the recent drop in oil prices; wishful thinking about oil shale and hydrogen cars; trumped up reserves by the major oil companies, and most of all the inability of most Americans to consider such a fundamental disconnection from the automobile past. Rogue Columnist

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