Is That a Fat Lady We Hear Singing?

The era of cheap oil is coming to an end soon; duck!

Cheap oil is running out. A report from the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves puts the problem in stark terms: “The disparity between increasing production and declining discoveries can only have one outcome: a practical supply limit will be reached and future supply to meet conventional oil demand will not be available.” The exact moment when world oil production maxes out and begins its inexorable decline — known as “peak oil” — is the subject of wide disagreement. However, an emerging consensus places it some time between, um, last year and 2020. Problem is, most of the world’s big governments aren’t doing much of any prep to cushion the blow. Couple a production peak with rapidly rising demand from developing powerhouses like China and you’ve got a recipe for what analyst Colin Campbell calls “the decline of oil and all that depends on it.” Take a look around — that’s your lifestyle.