The International Energy Agency, whose forecasts of world energy
supply are perhaps more influential than any other, has
expressed deep concerns that the world's oil supply can no
longer meet demand. In other words, that peak oil may be here.
"We are entering a new world energy order," chief economist
Fatih Birol told The Associated Press. To assess whether or not
the world is at or near peak oil, the IEA will study the
depletion rates of 400 oil fields, the AP reported. The timing
of the statement might send further shockwaves through the oil
market, which had retreated somewhat from its unprecedented peak
of $135 per barrel earlier Thursday. Oil is a finite resource it
is produced by subterranean pressure over the course of millions
of years. So what we've got is all we've got. Oil drillers go
for the easy and most profitable crude first the stuff that
requires the least energy to pump out of the ground and the
least refining to make into a usable product. When that is gone,
what's left is harder and more e