The Oil Drum

(Crossposted from DrumBeat)

Here's Wagoner's statement from the North American International Auto Show 2008:

Earlier this month, the price of oil hit a hundred dollars a barrel, as demand for energy around the world is growing faster than supply. And that's not just a cyclical phenomenon; it's structural, given the growth in emerging economies, which we fully expect to continue.

Wagoner is quoted in the Royal Oak, MI Daily Tribune (15 Jan. 2008) saying:

As we look at the global energy and environmental picture today and consider the future of the automobile, one fact stands out above all others: the auto industry can no longer rely almost exclusively on oil to supply the world's future automotive energy requirements.

CNET is running an interview with Wagoner that took place just before the auto show and was published today (15 Jan. 2008):

Can this CEO paint GM green?

CNET: How do the petroleum companies feel about some of the things that General Motors is doing to shift the auto industry away from petroleum?

Wagoner: To be honest, I haven't really had direct conversations with them. It's a fairly broad-based issue. We're not saying that we don't see our sector continuing to use petroleum. But with the cost of petroleum these days and broader sensitivity and ever increasing demand for it, alternatives have to be developed. I note with interest a number of the oil companies talk about their positions as energy providers, rather then just oil companies. I'm not in that business, that's the way to think about the future.

...

CNET: Is the relatively high price of crude oil causing different planning in General Motors than ordinarily is the case. Are you now feeling a certain urgency to provide these alternative vehicles?

Wagoner: My sense is there's a fundamental change here and simply stated it's the growth of the emerging markets in places like China, which are huge consumers of energy and I don't see anything which is going to diminish that over time.