This Winter....

Last winter we spent nearly $2000 heating our large and inefficient home. This winter we are on the Jimmy Carter plan. We never turn the heat up above 65 degrees in the day and we crank it down to 55 at night. In the day we wear socks and sweaters and at night we snuggle under numerous blankets. There are some other larger things we are doing to simplify, save money, and reduce our energy consumption. I can’t talk about them yet….but stay tuned…over the next year you will see some BIG changes in our lives. These types of things can be considered drudgery or adventure. We choose to think of them as adventure.

Obama, Oil, and the First Wave

The Obama administration is almost upon us. I have told friends and relatives for years that I do not envy the person stepping into the oval office in early 2009. Last week president-elect Obama acknowledged what we all know…the economy is bad and it will get worse. While it is nice to see the typical sunshine pumping about the economy that has been pouring out of D.C. for way too long come to an end…it is very apparent that our “leaders” are still a number of steps behind. In fact they are just as behind as they were 4 years ago when oil had never breached $40 a barrel and a number of concerned folks were trying to raise awareness about the danger we would soon find ourselves in with oil topping $100 and the unknown economic catastrophe triggers it could switch. Well, all of that happened.

I admit, while I did clearly see the energy side of the equation, the nature of this first phase of economic hardship was only learned by me as it was happening. So where are we now? This is just the first wave. Things are now happening much too quickly for our big lumbering governmental and political systems to have a prayer of keeping up. We must obviously fend for ourselves. Oil is hovering at $40 a barrel as I type this. Demand is about 86 million barrels per day (mbpd) while supply is about 87 mbpd. Numerous energy projects have been cancelled due to the recent price collapse. A lot of work that was economically viable at $80 a barrel is not even worth considering today.

Thankfully oil demand has been slowed by the economic downturn. When things start looking rosier, keep an eye on those oil prices. Demand can turn up in the blink of an eye. What happens when demand exceeds supply? The price keeps going up until something (something very big and important) breaks. Then the price comes down when demand has sufficiently been destroyed. Does that sound familiar? It should. You have just lived through a very mild cycle of it. It will get more exciting from here on out. It can be frightening or exhilarating…but that depends on how you have prepared. Of course most people won’t connect the dots and will do the easy thing….blame the government or the president or whoever else. Like I said, this is a bad time to be the president. Good day and God bless.

The Crash Course

A few of you may have noticed that there is a link stuck to the very top of my blog that says "click here now". This is an EXCELLENT course put together by a man named Chris Martenson. It thoroughly breaks down and explains a number of things that New-Think has addressed in a comparably amateur fashion over the past few years. You owe it to yourself to check it out. Many of you will not click on a more important link in the next few years. The entire course is about 3 hours long...but it is broken into bite size chunks. I encourage you to give it about 15 minutes of your time...if, after that, you think it's not relevant then move along...but be sure to save the link, because I believe events over the next few years will change your mind. If you like it, break out the popcorn!

Thus Believeth New-Think

Today I will tie together the last 3 posts and tell you what to expect from the future, economically speaking.

How does all of this fit together? Yesterday's series of if-then statements are a useful tool, BUT, it will not be that black and white. Right before oil demand began being destroyed by the tanking economy, demand had been slightly exceeding supply. Customers (mainly very poor ones) were priced out of the oil consumption business and those who could afford to buy what they could not (us) bought it. That is why oil was so expensive. As a consequence of the high prices, though, we were able to fund a LOT of projects to find new oil and get it out of the ground (or sand or shale) as quickly as possible. People like T. Boone Pickens began rolling out multi-billion dollar alternative energy projects like thousands of giant wind-mills. People naturally used less because they could not afford it.

Now people are losing jobs and having trouble getting new credit cards....the cost of oil has drastically decreased. The government has shown it will do whatever it takes (including change the rules in the middle of the game and ignore the constitution) to prop the economy up for as long as it can. Actually, they are surprisingly good at it. It is amazing how, when the money stops flowing, you see who is really loyal to who…that is, if you are paying attention.

Anyway, it appears to New-Think that a full collapse of the U.S. economic system is still a very real possibility within the next year. If you are rolling your eyes at that, please think back and remember how you rolled your eyes when we told you oil was going over $100 and the dow was going below 10,000. Turns out those were very conservative predictions. If a systemic collapse happens, all of the following predictions go out the window.

If, however, the system holds up.....

The price of oil will continue to fall for the very short term and cause numerous project cancellations in the oil and gas industry and it will bring the “alternative” energy industry to a near stand still. Especially after 6 months when everyone forgets what $4 gas was like. The economy might not get much better, but eventually, demand will increase (either from very low prices or a more stable world economy) and we will find ourselves worse off than before because we were still, after all, using millions of barrels or oil every day while cancelling the energy projects we needed to sustain the practice. The price of oil will once again skyrocket…until something else breaks. Then we’ll do it all again. Only every time it will be more painful. Welcome to the long emergency. Don’t borrow any more money. Get out of debt now. Don’t borrow any more money. Get out of debt now.

I mentioned politics in the original post title but didn’t say much about it at all. No, your candidate, whoever he or she is, cannot fix this. They will keep telling you/us they can, though. We’ll hear a lot about a lot of things, and I’ll keep getting e-mails about the stupid things politicians say to win votes…but won’t actually work, asking me if it is true. I won’t say most politicians don’t care BUT I will unequivocally declare that most politicians (especially in the legislative and executive branches of the current administration and the next) do not yet fully understand these issues. If I have to hear about the Bakken formation or Utah oil shale one more time from one of these folks I’m gonna…….It doesn't matter who you voted for in regard to energy and the economic issues.....in these regards democrats and republicans are one large monolithic, idiotic party. By the time the ballot gets to you the choice is primarily an illusion.


Later.

Gas Is Under $2 per Gallon - We're All Saved

Gas is under $2 a gallon! We’re all saved!

No. Sorry, you are not saved. The finite resource you know as crude oil is still finite. Here is a brief, generalized, and grossly overly simplified line of reasoning of why gas costs under 2 bucks per gallon now. Prior to the “Credit Crunch/Crisis” (that terminology is inaccurate…but if I don’t call it what CNN calls it some people might not know what I’m talking about). Anyway…before this whole economic downturn got going full steam, you’ll recall that oil was about $150 bucks per barrel. Gas was over $4 per gallon. That (among other things) was putting a major strain on most Western consumers. $4 gasoline (and it’s trickle down effect) helped cause the “credit crisis” by being an agitating factor when adjustable rate mortgages began to reset and just causing a strain on consumers in general. I felt it. Didn’t you? It wasn’t just the cost either, was it? It was the concern over when the next shoe would drop. Well the next shoe dropped, and it looked like a “credit crisis”. Unfortunately the shoe was not on a human. It was on a centipede and there are about 98 shoes left to drop. Did we take that analogy too far?

Onto something more interesting. What does the “credit crisis” do to oil..and what will happen in the future. What does it mean?!?!?!?!?!?

The price of gasoline has primarily gone down because demand has gone down. AND because future traders FEAR it will go down more and BELIEVE supply will outpace demand. Perhaps it will. Obviously, when people are doing well, economically speaking, they use more gasoline.

1. IF world economies makes a turn for the prosperous THEN demand will start marching right along again and the price of oil will test even higher prices as demand again knocks on the door of supply capacity.

2. IF the economy stays flat or dives further AND oil supply growth can truly keep up with oil demand THEN prices may go down even further for a time.

3. IF the economy stays flat or dives further AND oil supply growth cannot keep up with oil demand THEN…Katy bar the door….the price of oil will go up until another shoe drops. Ad Infinitum.

The 3 if-then statements, above, cover the most likely scenarios we will see in the next 2-5 years.

Tune in tomorrow when we wrap this up, tie it up with a neat little bow, and tell you what to expect for the next few years.

Economics, Oil, Politics, and the Future

Regular New-Think readers know that we enjoy prognostication. Please allow us to clear up a few things for you regarding the next decade or so.

First, let’s get our credentials out of the way. Way back before oil was above $40 per barrel we predicted that oil prices were set to skyrocket on the basic principles of supply and demand. Way back when the Dow was up in the 14,000-15,000 range New-Think told you it would fall below 10,000 (and probably much further) within the next year. Since we are going to spend the next few posts talking about macro-economics and energy (in the most interesting way possible) it is important that you keep these things in mind. We have not been wrong about calling the shots before they happen in the past.

Now, here is a disclaimer. This is NOT investment advice. My only investment advice to you is to get out of debt. The world economic situation has entered a VERY volatile phase and my prognostication is going to be full of “if-then” type statements. New-Think clearly sees the dominoes, set up and ready to fall, but seeing which domino will fall first is a bit of a guessing game at this point.

These posts are written in response to two sentiments I have heard expressed by ordinary citizens (non-New-Thinkers) in the past few weeks.

1. No one could have seen this coming (in reference to current economic downturn).
2. Gas is under $2 a gallon! We’re all saved!

Tune back in daily for the next few days to get a taste of the future.

Don't Waste Your Vote (on either major party)

I won’t be voting for a Democrat or a Republican in the upcoming presidential election. The primary reason is because I don’t really believe there is a major difference between the candidates. In regard to foreign policy, the welfare state, big government, and privacy issues there is no discernable difference at all. Where is the candidate for states’ rights and shrinking of the federal government? Where is the candidate who will reign in the Federal Reserve and move us toward a currency that is actually backed by something more than our imaginations and maintained the shuffling and obscuring of massive debt? As either Obama or McCain will learn during the next term…it is probably too late for that already. The tsunami is coming. I could go on for ten paragraphs about Bear Stearns, Fannie and Freddie, and, soon to come Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and WAMU…but even the perfect candidate could not fix this mess now.
Now I realize there are, theoretically, ideological differences that should be considered between the candidates. This one supports Roe vs. Wade, this one doesn’t. This one wants gun control, this one wants less. But where is the candidate who will state that NEITHER of these issues and many like them are not issues for the federal government to decide AT ALL. At best (where constitutional to even question) these should be decided by the states.
On energy policy. One party wants to drill offshore…the other doesn’t. Seriously, they are not even engaging in the correct debate. I realize most of the sheeple of America believe this is where the debate is. All the time we are told idiotic drivel like “America has 200 years of oil, and all we have to do is go get it.” Absolutely NOT true. These accounts take into consideration oil shale, oil sands, and the Bakken formation. These ARE NOT conventional oil plays and will not solve the energy crisis. We cannot extract any of these resources at high enough rates to make any more than a small bump on the declining production curve of American oil. Don’t believe me, though (someone involved in this arena professionally), research it for yourself. Just please do not listen to what the democrats, republicans, or CNN, or Fox News tell you. Oil is down to a paltry $100 a barrel now (major sarcasm)…so for Joe-six-pack this is probably a dead issue since surely it will head far back down into double digits and stay there forever….it’s our God-given American right (more major sarcasm).
Erosion of civil rights and right to privacy. This is a big one. We are seeing things that are I frankly cannot believe are happening in America. Habeus Corpus/eminent domain…where is the champion of the private property owner? A hair splitting debate about the definition of torture for crying out loud....should we ever get so close to torturing other humans to even ask ourselves these questions? Unregulated government sponsored phone tapping of private citizens. What. Does anyone even care? Neither of the two major candidates does.
I am just getting started. But if you find yourself saying you are going to vote for the lesser of two evils…then don’t. Pick a third party candidate who lines up with your views. The lesser of two evils is still evil. Down with the two (one) party system. More on this later…I’m out of time.

“The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.”
Carroll Quigley – Author of Tragedy & Hope

I don't want you to freak out....but...

Are you wondering when all of the renewable and/or alternative energy sources will kick in and drive down the price of oil? I really hope you are not still waiting for a magic bullet. We haven't even hit the down slope yet. Really, you will look back at this time as the good old days. Now is the time of preparation...past it really. Get busy.

Have a look at the following picture.

click to enlarge

Every year we use about 1 cubic mile of oil. To get that energy equivalent we would need to do what is shown above every year for 50 years. If you aren't good at math, let me break it down. To equal the oil we use in one year we need:

4,562,500,000 solar panels

2,600 nuclear power plants (takes a decade to build one)

200 3-gorges size dams

5200 coal fired power plants (you'll need coal for that)

1,642,500 wind turbines (the big ones)

That is why you have not seen and will not see the magic energy fairy.

And just in case you forgot....we have not been finding much oil lately.

Also...and here is where 95% of you will click away from this page....there is a very good chance you and your loved ones will meet an untimely death because of this. Here is a link and a chart from the link. This is one of MANY cold blooded studies into this subject. I don't blame you if you would rather accuse me of being a lunatic or "some internet whacko" instead of believing it. It is a much easier way to live. Accepting oil depletion is becoming much easier with all of the mainstream news coverage...accepting some of the more dire consequences may take a little while for you to digest...this one is a little like being kicked in the gut.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3091




Don't take my word for it though. In fact, if you can convince me I am wrong to even consider such a scenario...I would be very grateful.

God bless you and have a nice day.
JJ

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3091

Seriously...

This is disgusting. Oil prices went over $130 per barrel today. Any regular reader here will know there is a sound, unavoidable, and irreversible reason for that (check out my peak-oil posts if you are a newb). Anyway, there are some things we can do to mitigate some of the problems if there is some general awareness and conscientiousness in the population and in the government. Instead…what do we get? Pathetic stuff like this:



House Passes Bill to Sue OPEC Over High Oil Prices

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080520/pl_nm/congress_opec_dc



Judiciary Committee to seek answers for rising oil prices on day crude crosses $130 a barrel.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/21/news/economy/oil_hearing/index.htm?cnn=yes



Not to mention the brilliant proposals by democratic presidential front-runners to give a tax free gasoline summer to Americans. YOU ARE RUNNING TO BE THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD.....IS THIS REALLY THE BEST ENERGY POLICY YOU CAN COME UP WITH?????



Man am I ever fired up about this stupidity.

If you are a leader of men...please listen to this.

http://globalpublicmedia.com/interviews/615


OKAY BREATHE. Here's a cute picture of Asa.



Also a word to all Christians. Don't forget. Christ calls you to DENY YOURSELF, take up your cross, and follow Him. This week, I suggest we all focus on denying ourselves. This literally means dying to yourself, and not giving any thought or provision as to your own desires. Instead seek to serve others (and in doing so serving God) all of the time. Not just a few times a day, Christian. It is to be our lifestyle. If you find yourself getting annoyed, angry, grumpy, or anything else along those lines...you are in sin. Selfish sin. Repent and get back on the narrow path that leads to life eternal. Amen. Check out the following link if you are interested in going further into selflessness.

http://bibletruthpublications.org/publications_files_and_images/ADC9.pdf

Hang On Tight

The article pasted below is profoundly important. As usual the mainstream press is not touching this. The world is in for a very rude wake up call coming sooner than even I thought….I now confidently predict unprecedented economic turmoil within the next 2-4 years. Don’t listen to the so-called pundits on CNN or whatever else…I assure you we cannot conserve, build windmills, or solar panels fast enough to even significantly slow down the speeding train that is headed in our direction. I am not saying we shouldn’t do things to counter-act this….I am just saying it is too late to do enough to avert major consequences.


Saudi King Abdullah Drops Quiet Bombshell
By Jim BrownUpdated: Tuesday, April 22 2008 02:04:AM

I had another article prepared tonight but this crossed my desk from ASPO. I thought it was important enough to post it in its original form. Jim

Saudi King Abdullah drops quiet bombshell
By Steve Andrews and Randy Udall, ASPO USA:
On April 13, Reuters reported the following from Riyadh:

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said he had ordered some new oil discoveries left untapped to preserve oil wealth in the world's top exporter for future generations…
"When there were some new finds, I told them, 'no, leave it in the ground, with grace from god, our children need it'," King Abdullah said…
Saudi production capacity stands at around 11.3 million bpd, and is scheduled to rise to 12.5 million bpd next year.

The King's remarks seem to confirm a statement made last year by Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi who, when asked "How high can your production go?" replied, "We'll get to 12.5 million barrels a day and then we'll see."
If the Saudi announcement was a bombshell, American nearly newspapers ignored it. We decided to canvass experts we respect to see what they thought. Excerpts follow:

Tom Petrie, vice president, Merrill Lynch:
"King Abdullah's quote speaks to the fast-emerging reality of what I call 'practical peak oil.' The Saudis and other exporters are placing a new emphasis on elongating the petroleum exploitation and depletion cycle. This stems from a growing awareness of the challenges of conventional resource maturity, as well as rising resource nationalism. This is likely to result in an earlier occurrence of global peak oil output than many consumers yet recognize."

Charles T. Maxwell, senior energy analyst, Weeden & Co:
"If Saudi Arabia's oil reserves are not going to be made available to the world in future years, beyond the expansion they have already signaled (to 12.5 million barrels/day), then the geologic oil supply constraints that we are feeling in many other parts of the world are going to close in on us earlier and more severely than we previously thought. It's a major change in policy. It's a powerful message. It makes the geologic message that much more decisive."

Chris Skrebowski, editor of Petroleum Review:
"King Abdullah's statement represents the final seal of approval on an emerging Saudi policy of restricting output to save oil for future generations. In recent years the Saudis have been managing expectations of future capacity steadily downwards. No one now talks of their reaching 15mn b/d. If they reach 12.5mn b/d, while maintaining 1-2mn b/d of 'spare' capacity, we should plan for Saudi production to be 9-11mn b/d for the foreseeable future.
"High oil prices and bulging treasuries are giving producing countries the option of maximizing plateau production. We may never know if these decisions are being dictated by geology or driven by a political imperative of 'saving oil for later generations.' I suspect it's a mixture of the two.
"In any case, there is now a broad-based move by energy exporters, including Russia, Angola, Azerbaijan, and Norway, to restrict expansion to maximize plateau flows. If this takes hold, then global supplies will reach a peak rather earlier than analysis of future projects would indicate."

Matt Simmons, chairman of Simmons & Co. International:
"This statement by the Supreme Ruler of Saudi Arabia has far-reaching implications. That King Addullah would now instruct his servants to conserve the oil they pump and save some for the kids and grandkids of today's Saudi citizens is most profound.
"King Abdullah has exhibited a sense of wisdom not seen since his brother, King Faisal ruled the Kingdom until his tragic assassination. Assuming his health continues, he might lead Saudi Arabia successfully into a post-peak world and create sustainable middle class wealth for the 90% of Saudi Arabia who had accidentally been left behind.
"The world should bless this intelligent pronouncement. It is a reflection that Twilight set in on the oilfields of Arabia a few years ago."

Richard Nehring, president of Nerhingdatabase.com
"This development is part of what I've called the 'Prudential Plateau.' Some key countries with large reserves and resources have decided to maintain production at current levels—but not increase it. This is a two-edged sword: you can no longer count on these countries for increases, but you can count on them for the base. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar will probably join in this shift."

Jeffrey Rubin, chief economist, CIBC World markets
"A far more plausible explanation for faltering growth in Saudi production and exports is that they are rapidly approaching maximum production. Given soaring rates of internal consumption for oil, they will soon be exporting less not more crude to world oil markets.
"Russian Natural Resource Minister Yuri Trutnev's has said that Russian production and exports will fall this year, for the first time in a decade. We forecast that exports from OPEC, Russia and Mexico will actually decline by 2.5 million barrels per day between now and 2012. It's far from obvious who is going to fill this supply gap, let alone meet the need of future global crude demand growth."

Jeremy Gilbert, BP's retired chief petroleum engineer
"I have no idea whether there was a real choice for the Saudis to make. Perhaps it's all "spin"; perhaps there were discoveries, but there was some property of the reservoirs which made them very difficult to develop, and it made sense to delay development until improved technology or much higher prices arrived; perhaps it's the plain basic truth - a very rare commodity.
"What I do know is that several countries in the Gulf have long chosen to operate their fields with depletion rates far below those that a Western company would consider optimal, or even sensible. Depletion rates of between 1 and 2%/ per year are not uncommon in the United Arab Emirates. Local leaders have repeatedly said that they feel an obligation to preserve some of their natural resources. These feelings must be intensified when their recent production has been sold for US dollars which have depreciated by 25% or more against other strong world currencies over the last four years.
"The countries around the Gulf, which would once have come to the aid of a faltering U.S., now are either delighted about the U.S. plight or just don't care. They are not going to do anything to reduce world oil prices. Instead, they are going to maximize their economic take while minimizing depletion of their sole natural resource."

Herman Franssen, president of International Energy Associates
"King Abdullah's remarks reflect the new thinking in the Middle East, where the Kuwaiti parliament has also expressed a need to stabilize oil exports. Higher oil prices enable producers to focus more on domestic investments than on increasing exports. All Gulf countries have seen huge growth in domestic demand for power and fuel. By 2015, Iran may consume as much of its crude oil as they export. The King's remarks mean that we in the industrialized countries better start looking for other solutions."

Jim Brown
OptionInvestor.com

Fill 'er Up!

Read some sad articles today. While we worry about the cost of filling up our tanks...many poorer nations have seen food costs rise to as much as 75% of per capita income. This is largely due to competition for "alternative fuel stocks"....i.e. ethanol.

Revelation 6: 5When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

Continuing to Beat the Horse

DOOM

Thank you for attending the oil age. We're going to scrape what we can out of these tar pits in Alberta and then shut down the machines and turn out the lights. Goodnight.

New York Times

"Wall Street begins the new week trying to come to terms with just how bad the fallout from the credit crisis is -- so bad that an investment bank worth $20 billion weeks ago has been bought for just $236 million."



From CNBC

"this Fed deal is NOT 'financial management'", its the equivalent of "fire trucks in the streets fighting fires".

Peak-Oil Primer

I first published this about 1/2 a year ago. Peak oil theory is looking even better now than it did back then. Enjoy.

Many of you do not need a primer on peak-oil. I am sure those of you who do not, however, would agree that most people do. So in order to bring everyone up to speed on the subject, let’s have a brief overview of the phenomenon that is known as peak-oil.

All but a few fringe “scientists” (mostly in Russia) agree that oil is a finite resource. Peak-oil is the point at which we have extracted about half of the earth’s technically recoverable oil. In the 1950’s a petroleum geologist named M. King Hubbard predicted that U.S. oil production would peak in the 1970’s. No one believed him. It is clear now, and has been for decades that the United States was never able to produce more oil than it did in the 1970’s. Hubbard was correct. That is why we (in the U.S.) are now so reliant on what politicians like to call “foreign oil”.

Here’s the rub. The same thing that Hubbard predicted in the U.S. has been predicted and has happened to oil reserves the world over. At some point we will be extracting more oil per day than is physically possible the next day. This is bad since demand is growing. When there is not enough supply to meet demand, we get bidding wars (and other kinds of wars) until some competitors are priced out and supply and demand balance each other again.

When is this going to happen? Maybe you should ask another question. Has this already happened? Take a look at the following chart.

ASPO Estimation of Global Oil Peak

The group of scientists who created the model that spit out the chart above have the peak estimated sometime around your lunch hour last Tuesday. There are other estimates….but most of the serious folks agree that we will not know for sure until it is in the rear view mirror AND it is already upon us or will be very soon.

Have a look at the next chart. For many decades we discovered more oil than we used worldwide. Since the 1980’s, however, we have used more oil than we have discovered, year on year. As you can see each year we use more and more and find less and less.

Oil Found vs. Oil Used (World)

Why should I care about this?

Obviously, if I am giving you a primer on the basics of peak-oil I plan to discuss it further down the road. Why should you not skip all of the boring posts about oil and just check back next week to see if I am talking about something more interesting? Because the world you have been accustomed to was built upon the cheap (yes it's still cheap at $70 a barrel) easy energy of oil. It is estimated that every food calorie an American consumes took 10 calories of fuel to deliver to their plate. You eat oil. A lot of it. A little over 100 years ago oil began being used by the human race and has since invaded everything (transportation, plastics, fertilizers, mass agriculture, etc.). If the scientists predicting peak-oil (and I count myself among them) are correct then your world is about to change...probably for the worse.

Consider one last fact: Like I said about 150 years ago we started using oil. Since then our oil usage rate has expanded exponentially (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth). Guess what! Since humans started keeping records the human population on earth had hovered around 1 billion until about 150 years ago. What has the population growth pattern been like since then? Exponential. In the last 150 years we have gone from around 1 billion to over 6 billion. Connect the dots as you wish. Exponential growth is not sustainable with any finite resource.

Need to know more now and can't wait until my next post on the subject. Rest easy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

http://globalpublicmedia.com/interviews/615

http://www.energybulletin.net/primer.php

Just Thought You Should Know

Hmmmmm. Global oil demand is sky-rocketing. Crude oil prices break records again and again. Anyone care to guess why we haven't seen a significant sustained supply increase since the end of 2004? By the way....EIA and IEA demand numbers for 2008 are higher than expected supply. Interesting times.

p.s. If you really are clueless about the reason for this....follow the link below.

http://new-think.blogspot.com/2007/06/peak-oil-primer.html