On Sunday I read The Independent's article on Lord Oxburgh, the former chair of Shell - one of the most respected names in the energy industry has issued a stark warning that the price of oil could hit $150 per barrel, with oil production peaking within the next 20 years. At last more are speaking up on this issue.Lord Oxburgh accused the industry of having its head "in the sand" about the depletion of supplies, and warned: "We may be sleepwalking into a problem which is actually going to be very serious and it may be too late to do anything about it by the time we are fully aware."
The price of crude oil closed above $80 a barrel for the first time on Thursday, as a hurricane in Texas raised supply concerns. Oil prices have risen 30 per cent since the start of this year and are four times higher than their 2002 level. Meanwhile the latest figures from the US Energy Information Administration show that global liquid fuels production in August was almost a million barrels per day lower than the same period in 2006.
On Monday I had a meeting with fellow Transition Stroud folk about how we can raise this issue more locally - see my post re that meeting here. I've also brought it up in several other meetings this week including one today with Stroud District Councils' Chief Executive and the Head of Regeneration Department (who I learnt today swam the channel some years ago!) who I was meeting regarding a related matter about Council strategies.
More people are receptive to this issue than before - the Heinberg visit earlier this year has helped lots locally (see previous blog entries on that) - but the challenge is to act - and there are not easy ways forward - although having said that there are lots of things we can do and should be doing.....
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Crucial to any real action on climate change and peak oil are polices that will reduce our reliance on fossil based fuels - this is totally at odds with the needs of the oil lobby, who rely on our addiction to oil to keep their profits booming - If the government got serious about tackling climate change, companies like Shell would see a stark drop in their profits. It is therefore worrying that the Tory party are hob-nobbing with organisations like the UK
Petroleum Industry at their conference.
UK PIA are sponsored the Tory Green Initiative dinner at their conference. Chris Hunt, the CEO of PIA spoke alongside top Tories - I suppose no surprise - the Tories have long been the party of
big business,with a soft spot for fossil fuels - indeed Alan Duncan, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, worked as a trader of oil and refined products with Shell.
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