Experts say oil production is set to decline

Experts in the petroleum and oil sector predict the world’s oil production will peak and begin to decline as early as this year, according to the Associated Press (AP). Princeton University geologist Kenneth S. Deffeyes told AP that he anticipates “a permanent state of oil shortage.”Repercussions will include a dramatic price increase of oil products leaving major oil-consuming countries in a wake of crippling inflation, unemployment and economic instability. Experts say it may take at least a decade before conservation measures and new technologies can bridge the gap between supply and demand. However, experts do not anticipate these price increases will harm this summer’s air and auto travel plans. Although gas prices are up, experts say they will remain below $2.50 a gallon a figure comparable to prices throughout most of the 20th century until between1986 and 2003 when prices fell dramatically.Deffeyes claims that Saudi Arabia, Russia, Norway and other major oil producers are pumping as fast as possible and can only increase their production capacity if more of this non-renewable resource is discovered. Deffeyes says oil production will peak in late 2005 or early 2006. Other experts, however, claim global oil production may plateau and fall gradually as the economy converts to other forms of energy. Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California Daniel Sperling told AP, that there will still be huge amounts of oil in the Middle East in 30 to 40 years.