If Kevin Drum’s 547 part piece on peak oil scared the hell out of you, I would reach for the smelling salts before reading “A Cartel and Its Snakeoil”:
Across the oil industry, the uneasy feeling is growing that world production may be approaching its own “Hubbert’s Peak.” The last major field yielding more than a million barrels a day was found in Mexico in 1976. New discoveries peaked in 1960, and production outside the Middle East reached its high point in 1997. Meanwhile world demand continues to accelerate by 3% a year. Indonesia, once a major exporter, now imports its oil.
Before an uneasy feeling grows into full-blown pessimism, however, one must consider the supposedly vast oil resources lying beneath Saudi Arabia. The Saudis possess 25% of the world’s proven reserves. They routinely proclaim that, for at least the next 50 years, they could easily double their current output of 10 million barrels a day.
But is this true? Matthew R. Simmons, a Texas investment banker with a Harvard Business School degree and 20 years’ experience in oil, has his doubts. In “Twilight in the Desert,” Mr. Simmons argues that the Saudis may be deceiving the world and themselves. If only half of his claims prove to be true, we could be in for some nasty surprises.
Aye, carumba.
*** Update ***
TNR has a piece on petrodollars and extremism.