Let's hope the trend really is upward, and not a small blip.
Production Flattens Out

I am guessing that the trend will flatten out for the rest of the year. Demand in developed countries will drop due to high prices. This will be evened out by continuing - although slower - rise in developing countries. So overall, production will be flat.

 If production continues to rise then inventories will build.

If one steps back and looks at this curve, imagining its future shape, it becomes quite alarming.

What if the back slope is a mirror image of the front slope?

A few seasons in plateau, then perhaps a drop as steep as the initial rise from 2002 to 2005. Perhaps a 10% drop in three or four years.

Does anybody have an idea what a 10% drop in oil supply would do to the price of gasoline?


It seems that everyone is happy to over-analyse this blip.

Some have even decided that Peak Oil is NOT here yet based on this minor blip.

You are simply giving ammunition to the anti-PO crowd through this indecision. It could be exactly the effect the suppliers of the data seek ...

Peak Oil may - or may not - be around the corner ... but we shouldn't overact to the slightest data point.

Let's just wait a couple of months to see a more accurate trend ... whichever way it goes.

You are correct, one data point doesn't tell us much. And PO is a rearview mirror event. So let's hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
What are we hoping for? Unless any small amount of extra time we are given is actually used to prepared for what we face, then I'm really sure what to hope for.
Ahem, NOT SURE what to hope for!

Quickfingers.

One thing more or less in the middle would be high oil prices while PO is still a decade or more away.

How about that?

"Let's hope the trend really is upward, and not a small blip."

MTF?!?!?  What's the matter, climate change not moving fast enough for you?