Yergin's latest on oil

OPINION: "Why Oil Still Has a Future," by Daniel Yergin, Wall Street Journal, 31 August 2009.

It's always about demand and thus price and thus technology afforded. Right now, "demand in the developing world trumps new technology." And with oil becoming a financial asset, in addition to an important commodity, volatility naturally increases dramatically.

Will this situation go away any time soon? 85% of oil demand growth in 2000-2007 was from emerging markets. Since there's no rolling back growth, there's only new technology to pursue.

My point: look to the East for these breakthroughs, not the West.

Remember, says Yergin, this is only about transportation, not all-important electricity, where oil is responsible for only 2% of generation.

Comments

[Louis Heberlein]

China, India etc. are the 'first big buyers and users' of new energy technologies. However, their sources of technology and techniques are often the US government and pioneer firms in areas like superconductivity.

It is amazing how our media, investment gurus and even government PR folks ignore or minimize these trends.

If their predecessors had the same attitude a century ago we would still depend on the pony express and railroad mail cars instead of developing the telegraph and telephone networks.

New tangible technologies create new job skill opportunities and education programs ... investment services focused on energy futures gambling do not.