Une entrevue par TheIndependant avec le Dr. Birol, qui est chef économique à l'International Energy Agency, rapporte que l'approvisionnement en pétrole est menacée et que l'impact sur les prix commenceront à se faire sentir dès 2010. On y rapport également le fait que les gouvernements seront peut être tenté d'exploiter les sites 'sales' tels que des sables bitumineux ce qui serait catastrophique pour l'environnement. L'exploitation d'un site 'sale' est très dispendieux en énergie (Gaz naturel, huile, hydrocarbure) pour extraire du pétrole brut. Voici quelques extraits :

...oil production is now running at nearly twice the pace as calculated just two years ago. On top of this, there is a problem of chronic under-investment by oil-producing countries, a feature that is set to result in an "oil crunch" within the next five years which will jeopardise any hope of a recovery from the present global economic recession

There is now a real risk of a crunch in the oil supply after next year when demand picks up because not enough is being done to build up new supplies of oil to compensate for the rapid decline in existing fields

Even if demand remained steady, the world would have to find the equivalent of four Saudi Arabias to maintain production, and six Saudi Arabias if it is to keep up with the expected increase in demand between now and 2030

If we see a tightness of the markets, people in the street will see it in terms of higher prices, much higher than we see now. It will have an impact on the economy, definitely, especially if we see this tightness in the markets in the next few years

Environmentalists fear that as supplies of conventional oil run out, governments will be forced to exploit even dirtier alternatives, such as the massive reserves of tar sands in Alberta, Canada, which would be immensely damaging to the environment because of the amount of energy needed to recover a barrel of tar-sand oil compared to the energy needed to collect the same amount of crude oil.

SOURCE : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/warning-oil-supplies-are-running-out-fast-1766585.html