SHTFblog.com - are YOU ready?

Yippee!
*sarcasm*
Oil is expensive again!
If this isn’t enough to excite survivalists I don’t know what is!

Actually, it’s not like oil retreated to “reasonable” levels, it just came down from its $100 high. Now it’s heading back up on fears that OPEC will cut production to keep prices high. Saudi Arabia and OPEC keep changing their story on what they think a “reasonable” price is. The higher the price goes, and the longer it’s sustained, the higher their “reasonable” price goes. This potential production cut would come next month when they meet on March 5th, just ahead of the 2nd quarter, or just when gasoline demand heads back up for spring driving. Prices per-barrel are about $9 more than what they were in early February. C’mon, SUV juice sucking party peeps, let’s cruise past $100.00 per barrel, shall we?

Certainly the long-term outlook will mean lower prices, though - right? WRONG! The oil industry itself is now admitting that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to bring “proven reserves” to the market. Demand will outstrip supply plain and simple. Oil industry executives and “experts” gathered in Houston last week for the annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ annual conference. Scope this action, scope it NOW:

The backdrop: Tight supplies and rising demand for crude. As a result, executives said, the industry faces serious challenges getting oil to market.

The consensus among participants at the conference is that the world has enough oil to meet growing demand, but that the industry must focus more attention on harvesting the oil.

“An oil crisis is coming, and sooner than most people think” said John Hess, chief executive of Hess Corp.

WHAT!? Let’s hear that again!

“An oil crisis is coming, and sooner than most people think.”

Oh no! Full article is here. Another perspective from the Hess man: “On a unit-to-unit basis, oil is still about 10 times cheaper than a Starbucks latte.” Well isn’t that comforting :-S, except we don’t need gallons upon gallons of Starbucks LATTES to get to work! They’re gross anyway, never mind over-priced. Give me a medium sized house blend coffee - black. Sorry, I digress. Anyway, the Hess man knows:

Runaway growth in oil use in India and China - the two countries are expected to boast a combined 1.2 billion vehicles by 2050, up from 20 million a few years ago - is expected to push demand above supply sometime between 2015 and 2020, Hess said.

Wait a second, though . . . DOES he know!?

A small but growing number of analysts disagree with Hess’ assertion that there is enough oil in the ground. They say production of oil has peaked or will peak soon, followed by a slow but steady period of decline that could cause major social unrest.

Holy TEOTWAWKI Batman! “Major social unrest!” War, mayhem, and destruction! Don’t worry, renewable energies will save us . . . . or not. According to the U.S. government, under current policies renewable energy will only meet 2-5% of our total energy needs by 2030.

But here in Maine we’re moving forward to make ourselves less dependent on the mighty black gold. Well . . . we’re not actually, but we like to talk about it. John Kerry (no, not THE John Kerry), Maine’s director of the Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security, stated recently that:

Maine is 100 percent dependent on petroleum products, and that needs to change. Wind, solar, tidal power and forests are sources of alternative power, he said, and the state must also focus on using less energy. “I, for one, do not want my children and their children to be harnessed to petroleum.” Petroleum comes from unfriendly places in the world, which makes it dangerous for the United States to be so dependent on it, he added.

Kerry said he does not think being energy independent is a fallacy and we should aim for it, but he said it is unrealistic to think we will be energy-independent in the near future. Mainers must plan for 100 years into the future, he said.

Article is here. 

Ummmm . . . 100 years . . . I’m not sure what to make of this, but I think it’ll mean a whole lot of inflation in the future and food prices will continue to skyrocket. Eventually prices will get so high that carpooling will become the norm, people will buy smaller cars, and make smarter use of oil resources. The downside is that no matter how much we cut our consumption, demand from other countries will drive prices up.

It’s time for me to begin the multi-year process of turning my suburban yard space into an efficient food production, mini-garden, victory/war garden, vegetable and food yielding survival ground. Plant the carrots and stock the ammo! We’re all gonna die . . . . or we’ll just get by with less.

- Ranger Man

BTW: If heating oil has got you down you can always head to a homeless shelter. Oh wait, shelters are feeling the squeeze, too.