As global consumption of oil continues to increase because of new demand from countries like China and India, the US military worries that by 2015, demand for oil will outweigh the world’s ability to supply it. In other words, peak oil is real.
“By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day,” says the report, which has a foreword by a senior commander, General James N Mattis.
It adds: “While it is difficult to predict precisely what economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India.”
The US military says its views cannot be taken as US government policy but admits they are meant to provide the Joint Forces with “an intellectual foundation upon which we will construct the concept to guide out future force developments.”
The warning is the latest in a series from around the world that has turned peak oil – the moment when demand exceeds supply – from a distant threat to a more immediate risk.
If we think gas at $3 or $4 a gallon is expensive here in the US, imagine per gallon prices of $10 or more. Many would look at this number as fear mongering, but consider that the price of gas in western Europe is currently hovering around $7.
Is $10 a gallon gas possible?
At the top of the 2008 oil bubble, when oil was trading at $140, residents of the EU were paying from $9 to $10.25 per gallon. So yes, it is not unreasonable to suggest that prices in the US could go just as high in the future, even without a major oil crisis. With new green agendas like cap & trade on the table and government revenue shortfalls, it is not out of the question that government action alone could lead to massive price increases over the next few years.
Couple that with a loss in purchasing power of the dollar and increased demand from the 2 billion strong populations of China and India, and you can see where the long-term trend is headed.
The US military should be concerned, because as we saw in 2008, high gas/oil prices can literally crush economies. And if the military is right, and peak oil is just around the corner, then the latter half of this decade should be quite interesting.
Investigative journalist Michael Ruppert’s documentary Collapse deals with the subject of peak oil and the end result, which basically boils down to economic collapse, societal upheaval and the potential collapse of political systems around the world.
Everything from global transportation systems to tupperware is dependent on oil, and any significant increases in the price of this essential commodity can literally bring the economic systems of the globe to a standstill.
The end result of peak oil, for those who are concerned, will inevitably be a fight for resources, especially among the USA, China, India, Europe and Russia. China, for example, is already working with the Russians to ensure they will have supplies pumping in directly from their neighbors. And Russian President Vladimir Putin, last week, signed a $1 Billion oil development deal with Hugo Chavez, the President of Communist Venezuela. Even President Obama sees the danger of peak oil, recently reversing his campaign pledge to not drill off the shores of the US, and has committed to oil exploration along the coasts.
Peak oil is an issue that should not be taken lightly. For the last 100 years the world has been sucking the ground dry, and it is only a matter of time before oil, at a reasonable cost to the general population, runs out.
Hat tip SHTF reader Greg B.
Imagine that. It took the military to tell us this? Peak oil is here now.  I know, let build nuclear plants to run things……..no this causes cancer and the waste is hard to get rid of.  How about wind energy……no this is unsightly and throws off the migration of birds! How about solar……no, that will take too much money and I hate the looks of those things.  How about Bio diesel! What??? Not in my backyard!!!!     Â
And when 2015 rolls around, our oil will run out by 2020, then by 2025. I’ve been hearing the ame shit all my life. The end of the world is nye!
All these predictions about a collapse is BS. Even if it is true, no one is doing anything about it except burying their heads in the sand, in hopes that nobody will see their fat ass sticking up in the air.
Meanwhile, the powers that be will continue to be the powers that be and continue their business because you are too afraid to stand up for your basic human rights.
What I want to know instead of what is going to happen, is what I, one person can do to prevent it from happening. You can play Nostradomis all you want and cast fear on the people all you want.
But I, like the movie says, “am in a world of shit, but I am alive, and am not afraid!”
I heard peak oil happened in the early 70’s. Yes, sooner or later it will really happen as the world wide demand increases.   Then, everyone will be living in the middle ages life style with no hope and mass famine. Why not a real scientific report on this by scientists and oil experts?
Comments…..Peak oil already happened in US in 1970.  Right on the mark as predicted by Hubbert. If US tried to be self sufficient in oil, we would all be driving much much less. Unfortunately, US started importing oil in vast quantities. Now Mexico has already passed peak, so has North seas, pretty soon Middle east will be past peak too. Who will then step in to fill the void?
Canada will
Well the Artic would be a great place for a Cold War.. huu huuu? Get it? lol