Oil prices may double in three years, analyst says

Oil prices may double in three years, analyst says (webnewswire)

One of the worlds leading energy analysts, Matthew Simmons (an advisor to Pres. Bush), told an energy conference in Edinburgh:

"This is a new era," Simmons told a conference of oil industry analysts, government officials and academics in Edinburgh. "There is a big chance that Saudi Arabia actually peaked production in 1981. We have no reliable data. Our data collection system for oil is rubbish. I suspect that if we had, we would find that we are over-producing in most of our major fields and that we should be throttling back. We may have passed that point."

Simmons told the meeting that it was inevitable that the price of oil would soar above US$100 as supplies failed to meet demand.

"Demand is pulling away from supply ... and we have to ask whether we have the resources that we think we do. It could be catastrophic if we do not anticipate when peak oil comes," Simmons said.

One can assume then that Pres. Bush has been informed of this opinion as well.

Which just leads me to wonder why he is continuing to promote oil-based energy strategies.

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Oil prices may double in three years, analyst says