Oil Supply Estimates Distorted: Report -- Sydney Morning Herald
The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, but the International Energy Agency (IEA) is underplaying a looming shortage for fear of sparking panic buying, a report said on Monday.
The United States has played an influential role in encouraging the IEA to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields, the Guardian said.
The newspaper cites an unnamed senior IEA official as saying the US has also encouraged the Paris-based organisation, formed to try to safeguard energy supplies, to overplay the chances of finding new reserves.
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My Comment: This is probably one of the reasons why oil is at $80 a barrel .... even though we have been in an economic recession for over a year.
In addition, if the reports are true that we have less oil than what is being reported, the geopolitical, security, and economic implications will be profound. Higher oil prices will be the result, and a scramble for available oil resources will then ensue.
The impact on world stability will be immediate .... and a greater shift in geopolitical power to oil producing states will be the result. I call this the worst of all possible worlds to live in .... especially when our vulnerability to energy supplies becomes even more evident than what is perceived today.