Because petroleum has been so instrumental in the development of modern societies and because it is also a finite resource that will some day go into decline, supply needs will fall short of demand at some point. The main focus of this blog is on the arguments put forth by the pessimists. I believe geopolitics will play an equal part in causing a supply shortage before an absolute geological peak, governments will limit their oil production levels

FinancialSense.com - Preparing For and Learning to Survive the Coming Perfect Storm: Part 1

Audio link to interview

With:
Nicole M Foss
Antony Froggatt PhD

Nicole Foss: Nicole M. Foss is co-editor of The Automatic Earth, where she writes under the name Stoneleigh. She and her writing partner have been chronicling and interpreting the on-going credit crunch as the most pressing aspect of our current multi-faceted predicament. The site integrates finance, energy, environment, psychology, population and real politik in order to explain why we find ourselves in a state of crisis and what we can do about it. Prior to the establishment of TAE, she was previously editor of The Oil Drum Canada, where she wrote on peak oil and finance.

Her academic qualifications include a BSc in biology from Carleton University in Canada (where she focused primarily on neuroscience and psychology), a post-graduate diploma in air and water pollution control, the common professional examination in law and an LLM in international law in development from the University of Warwick in the UK. She was granted the University Medal for the top science graduate in 1988 and the law school prize for the top law school graduate in 1997.

On this week’s Financial Sense Newshour, Nicole lays out her ominous thesis of a coming deflationary depression, made worse by peak oil. Nicole believes that the depression will cause demand for energy to go down, creating further energy shortages and less and less economic growth.

Dr. Antony Froggatt: Antony Froggatt is a Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House. He has worked on international energy and climate issues for over 20 years providing research and information for a wide range of bodies including companies, governments, the media, non-government organizations and international organizations and has published over 50 reports and papers.

On this week’s Financial Sense Newshour, Dr. Froggatt discusses his latest research white paper, [for Lloyd's of London] “Sustainable Energy Security” with Jim Puplava. Dr. Froggatt makes the assertion that businesses which prepare for and take advantage of the new energy reality will prosper, but failure to do so could be catastrophic. He also mentions that the world is heading towards a global oil supply crunch and price spike.

Preparing For and Learning to Survive the Coming Perfect Storm: Part 2