Paradise Of Fools  

The head of the local oil Production and Exploration Association notes that Australia has its head stuck in the sand about where our oil supplies are coming from in future.

Australia is living in a "paradise of fools" if it believes the nation has enough oil reserves of its own, an industry leader says. Barry Jones, executive director of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, today said concerns over Australia's falling oil supplies were being glossed over.

Oil prices last night hit a new high of $US59.37 a barrel, with concerns it may push through the $US60 mark in coming weeks. For the past three decades, Australia's oil production has remained above 80 per cent of domestic consumption needs. Mr Jones said debate about Australia's energy supplies had focused on the ability of the nation to export products such as coal and uranium, and the interaction between energy policy and greenhouse gas emissions.

Seemingly more fools can be found at CERA, whose recent analysis has been roundly mocked at The Oil Drum, Energy Bulletin, Mobjectivist, Peak Energy (US), Land Of Black Gold and PeakOil.com.

A brief glance at the oil price trend over the past few years shows that the market in general seems unconvinced that we have copious supply to meet world demand for the next 20 years.



The author of the report, Daniel Yergin of CERA, has the following background (CERA itself is owned after several levels of indirection by Bush family interests - see the comments thread on the Oil Drum for the detail):

* Chairman, Cambridge Energy Research Associates
* Member of the Committee on Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations
* Board of Trustees, Brookings Institution 2005
* Advisory Board, Carlyle Group 2005
* Attendee Bilderberg 2004 June 3rd-6th

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