Peak Oil: Is it Already Happening?

At some point, there won't be enough oil to sustain the U.S. and the world in terms of energy.  In other words, there will be a phenomenon called "Peak Oil" whereby there is a point where the demand for oil will exceed the amount of resources of oil will reach its peak and afterward there will be a diminishing supply left.  In other words, has the U.S. exhausted all that there is of oil to the point that there is a diminishing supply left to exploit?  If the U.S. has reached all the oil reserves out there, then clearly there will be a diminishing rate of return if we continue to drill.  As such, the U.S. will have reached the peak of oil resources and would need to find other energy resources to replace the diminishing supply of oil.

The question, therefore, is one of whether this phenomenon of peak oil is currently happening.  Although fossil fuels like oil are exhaustible, whether we have reached the peak supply may be unclear at this point.  Peak oil may be approaching fairly rapidly. In fact, the peak oil phenomenon may be happening more quickly than planned as "The U.S. military has warned that surplus oil production capacity could disappear within two years and there could be serious shortages by 2015 with a significant economic and political impact."  Consequently, it is not a matter of if peak oil will happen, but rather it is a matter of when it will be upon us.  Peak oil doesn't just impact the U.S. but is a global phenomenon, but it can have a detrimental impact on the U.S. economy given the dependency of our economy on oil.

As such, today right now peak oil is not happening, but that does not mean it won't happen.  Clearly, by some accounts, at least what experts from the U.S. military say, this phenomenon may actually be occurring fairly quickly.  If shortages will result in 2015, then that does not leave the U.S. a whole lot of time to come up with a solution to the peak oil issue.  Other countries are concerned too, and in particular, "Lord Hunt, the British Foreign Minister met concerned industrialists two weeks ago in a sign that it is rapidly changing its mind on the seriousness of the issue."  As a result, the peak oil phenomenon is not something that can be ignored or taken lightly as even business interests recognize that it is something which cannot be ignored.

How to address peak oil is a challenge that all governments face and the U.S. definitely has its work cut out for it with its dependency on oil.  Hopefully, the U.S. governments comes up with a solution too as it appears the demand for oil will outpace the available supply fairly soon according to some experts.  Peak oil may be coming, therefore, fairly soon!

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