The Silent Oil Crisis

[Strelnikov_]

A good summary of the demand destruction that is occurring in poorer countries that are being priced out of the oil market. Just another sign that peak oil has arrived, and the last man standing endgame has begun.

The Silent Oil Crisis
by James Howard
25 Aug 2005

http://www.energybulletin.net/8416.html


Just as rising sea levels threaten to flood low-lying lands unable to protect themselves, rising oil prices threaten countries with weak (low-lying) economies. Rising oil prices are a rising tide, and there are many examples to look at. The countries that will be first affected by rising oil prices are those with a more youthful oil-dependent economy or those that do not have the economic strength – either as a nation, or as individuals, to cope with it.

. . .

Indonesia is another country that is beginning to feel the pressure (again) of rising oil prices. Once a net exporter of oil, this current OPEC member is an example of a more industrialized country that is now struggling, not just economically, but socially and politically. Fuel is subsidized in Indonesia but the rising oil costs have had to be passed on to consumers and that has proved increasingly unpopular. However, unless Indonesia removes the subsidies, experts predict the economy will suffer.

. . .

The oil crisis is getting particularly acute in The Philippines. Already, President Macapagal-Arroyo is talking of rationing oil if prices don’t fall and conservation efforts not made. Furthermore, there are calls for political unity across all parties, as well as demand for the public to take this problem seriously. "We cannot afford a divided nation amid this oil crisis. We have to unite to ensure and survive, and let not the people blame their leaders for not taking up the challenge", said presidential spokesman Ignacia Bunye on August 15th 2005. Unlike Indonesia though, there seems to be a wider acceptance that the oil price is market-driven. But the oil crisis is having an impact on daily life.

. . .

What we have seen then is just because the rising price of oil does not seem too damaging to us, it is already damaging many parts of the world where it is having a similar effect to how the 1970s oil crises affected the world. There are two obvious options left for everyone in the oil game, on whatever level. Those options are that you compete or you concede.

[pstans]

1. I live in a central Iowa and have seen some signs of an oil crisis

I have seen a few ads in the paper about car pooling and some posted on the bulletin board at the grocery store. You can't drive down the street without seeing a bunch of big trucks and SUV's with For Sale by Owner signs in the windows in someone's driveway or parked in a parking lot. The other night I went to the grocery store and saw 2 bikes parked out front.

Some people are waking up.

[NNadir]

2. It is always the poor who suffer first.