Oil

A rather alarming theory about oil supplies — which had been discussed mostly among fringe economists and on quirky Internet Web sites — has recently received much broader attention.

Libya is “the central exploration and production buzz for 2005” among international oil companies looking for access to potentially giant oil and gas fields, said energy analyst Catherine Hunter in a report drafted for the World Markets Research Centre, part of the London-based Global Insight group of companies.

Oil prices eased further below $50 a barrel on Tuesday, extending a week-long bout of profit-taking that has cut more than $5 from record-high crude ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

We should resign ourselves to the fact that the golden times of cheap oil are coming to an end. Oil will remain expensive. Sufficient alternatives will not exist for a long time. The changeover to alternative energy sources is enormously expensive and lengthy. .. One thing is certain: adjusting to the harsh reality of expensive oil will not be without pain.

The end of cheap oil may mean more than just higher gas prices for Americans. It may mean the end of the oil age as we know it. That is according to the so-called peak oil movement, which says that by 2008 humans will have extracted half of the earth’s oil.

November newsletter from the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas is essential reading. Includes an update on Saudi reserves, an analysis of US petrodollars, a country assessment of Denmark and much more.

South Africa will explore ways to source its oil from other African countries in a effort to cope with spiralling global prices.

Mineral exploration, like a kind of cosmic Easter egg hunt, becomes increasingly difficult the longer the hunt proceeds. Today, most of the world’s oil explorers are finding that the best chocolate eggs are long gone. The only goodies remaining are a few stray jellybeans and some candy wrappers.