I agree with Matthew Simmons that we have reached Peak Oil. And that
Saudi Arabia's supply isn't as
plentiful as they would have us believe. Why else would they be so secretive with their reserves data?
I wonder how much this has to do with the USAs desire to roll up the
Iranian Mullahs? Get them out of the way, put a puppet government in place and enjoy that Iranian crude as Saudi Arabia's wells dry up. The only real
problem with that is, of course, China. They just signed a fat contract with Iran to supply a heftly chunk of China's petroleum needs for many years
into the future.
The Saudis' approaching twilight
By Kéllia Ramares
Online Journal Associate Editor
Matthew R. Simmons is the founder and CEO of Simmons & Co., International, a Houston-based investment bank for the energy industry. Although Simmons
is not himself a petroleum geologist or petroleum engineer, he has learned much about how and where oil and natural gas are produced in his more than
35 years of involvement with the industry as a financial advisor.
Simmons has built up a great store of knowledge about Saudi Arabia, the "swing producer" that oil-consuming nations, such as the United States, have
depended on for decades to make sure there is enough supply on world markets. Despite tight supplies and high prices, and recent attention to Peak
Oil, about which Simmons has been warning for years, the Saudis insist that they can maintain and even expand their current level of oil production
for decades to come. In fact, on the morning of September 28, 2004, just hours before I interviewed Simmons, the Saudis announced that they would
increase oil production capacity. In debates, in articles, and now in his book, Twilight in the Desert, Simmons is challenging the Saudi assertion
that the kingdom can keep ratcheting up production to meet the needs of ever oil-thirstier world markets.
onlinejournal.com...