As prices tumble, doomsayers hold fast to prophecy
(Globe and Mail) t's been a tough week for peak-oil theorists - those limits-to-growth doomsayers who argue the world's crude oil supply has begun an inexorable decline that will force prices ever higher. At an OPEC meeting this week, Abullah Jum'ah, chief executive officer of Saudi Arabia's state-owned Saudi Aramco, directly challenged their theory, saying there is plenty of world oil left to be recovered. As if to underscore his claim, crude prices fell throughout the week, as geopolitical concerns that had been driving the market took a back seat to the fundamental fact that there is now ample production to meet slowing demand growth.

Large Gulf oil discovery may not bring back cheaper gas
(MyWestTexas.com) News of a successful test in a potentially huge oil field in the Gulf of Mexico may have led some Americans to stop planning for hybrids and go back to dreaming about owning gas guzzlers. Chevron and Devon Energy's success with the Jack 2 project some 270 miles offshore and five miles below sea level has been heralded as confirmation that the U.S. can continue to count on the Gulf of Mexico as a key source of energy. "Biggest find in a generation," touted one news headline. "Oil relief in sight?" another asked, while another predicted "Huge supply has potential to cut prices years from now." While validating the big discovery may bolster the view of the oil-supply optimists, even they don't predict a return to the days of cheap gasoline in a world where demand is growing so strongly.

"Peak Oil'" or Lots More Oil?
(Canada Free Press) "In May 2006 I wrote, "I know about the "Peak Oil" theory that says we either have or are about to reach the point of diminishing returns regarding the world's oil supply, but these recent discoveries suggest there is still plenty of oil to be found." In that commentary I documented nearly a dozen new fields of oil and natural gas discovered since 1995. So I wasn't surprised when, on September 5, Chevron Corporation announced it had discovered new, huge reserves of oil some five miles below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico."

Gas Prices And Politics
(The Ledger) Wow, this is great! Gasoline prices are plummeting, and just in time for the elections. You can almost see incumbents in Congress wiping their furrowed brows and sighing "Whew!" Happy drivers are happy voters. And the good news keeps on coming. Forget all that "peak oil" nonsense. The president of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. says the world has 4.5 trillion barrels of oil left in the ground - enough to sustain current levels of consumption for 140 years. And that's good, because as the chairman of Exxon Mobil Corp. said this week, when the flow of oil stops, "it stops economic progress worldwide.