The Oil Drum

I am also wondering where Greenspan thinks the oil is coming from. Therefore, it is relevant to ask where the Chairman is getting his information as regards 1) the role of "maximum reservoir contact" or "seismic imaging" technology and 2) how much conventional oil there is left to extract. Although he references DOE (EIA), there seem be other Cornucopian assumptions built into his reasoning. His historical review of the oil industry and current of view of where it now stands sounds a lot like Daniel Yergin to me and nothing like the view of HO's insider.

If history is any guide, oil will eventually be overtaken by less-costly alternatives well before conventional oil reserves run out. Indeed, oil displaced coal despite still vast untapped reserves of coal, and coal displaced wood without denuding our forest lands.

Re: "an accident waiting to happen" - As I read this within the context of the Chairman's remarks, he is merely saying that having let the world supply & demand situation get so tight, some kind of disruption was inevitable (in this case the hurricanes).