THE OIL WILL STILL BE GUSHING WHEN THE SUN BLINKS OUT:

Oil demand threatened by big shift to green policies (Chris Stanton, March 02. 2010, The National)

Proposed policies that target carbon emissions by shifting energy sources away from oil and other fossil fuels are some of the most important variables in the oil markets, said Amy Myers, an energy expert at Rice University’s James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy in Texas, which will publish a major study on the topic this year.

In the US, the world’s largest oil consumer, the effects of policies on the table to raise fuel efficiency and encourage electric cars and renewable energy could range from having barely any impact, to reducing consumption by as much as 7 or 8 million barrels per day (bpd) after 2020, Ms Myers said in Abu Dhabi. That is equal to as much as 40 per cent of daily US consumption today.

“People have planned their vision for where they’re going to be in 2025, and that we’re going to have a shortage in the market,” she said. “Well, if the United States could eliminate 6 to 7 million bpd through policy, that would wipe out whatever gain you could imagine from China.”

Ms Myers said China was also likely to improve the efficiency of its oil use faster than experts had predicted.