Oil hits $US53 for first time

New York’s main crude oil contract has shot to $US53 a barrel for the first time in opening trade as fears rose for heating oil supplies in the United States winter.

The “Abiotic Oil” Controversy

The abiotic theory holds that oil is from inorganic origin, and that there must be nearly limitless pools of liquid primordial hydrocarbons at great depths on Earth. If the abiotic theory does eventually prove to be partially or wholly scientifically valid (a big “if”), it might have little or no practical consequence in terms of the imminent global oil production peak.