It is impossible to discuss the Middle-East without discussing oil.

Were it not for revenues generated from oil and gas Iran would probably not be a theocracy able to contemplate nuclear weaponry and Saudi Arabia would not be able to finance Jihadi preaching madrassahs across the world. Dubai would still be a primitive third world town and nobody would be holding trade talk in Doha.

After soaring to $140 / barrel the price of oil is back in the doldrums. That's probably done more to crimp Iran's arms build-up than anything the Israelis are likely to do.

What of the longer term future. Will the price of oil go up - and up - and up - and up? Or will it sink below the horizon?

Here's one person who does not believe oil has a great future. You see, he no longer scrapes horse manure from his boots.

http://www.straight.com/article-176994/international-energy-agency-suggests-peak-oil-will-come-sooner-previously-believed

Place your bets

any article that even mentions 'peak oil' is a deception
we still have not reached 'peak oil;many old oilwells are now actually refilling[plus russia and indonesia just found the biggest oil fields ever]

thing is you are right in them driving down the price of oil
but its more against chaves and puton ,getting an easy ride with bounty from oil[expect when they[not the opec they]drive the price back up [to see it help realise hyperinflation] as petrol yet again distorts 'the numbers'

even the fire that 'caused' [is yet causing the current fuel shortage is trevealing that oil is franchised into too few hands] there has been no increase in fuel refiners for 40 years[we could use some 'infastructure spending' on building new ones[built specificlly to refine sustainable oil from algae]

peak oil has been beat up for far too long

i dont even bother reading any link that publisises the deception in its heading [google will soon only be searching the headings]

its time to crack open that oil cartel[they just woke up that increasing it was hastening it own self to die]but they will return, their greed knows no bounds

then we will all yet be forced to pay sigapure [singapoor?]special blend prices for a rather'standard'franchise[controled globally by a bankers cartel]
[our standard fuel price
somehow is linked to singapure 'super' retail price]
but hey dont it rake in the govenment tax take

I took the link on board stevenmyer thanks, but not its message.
Not for the reasons OUG has I doubt peak oil is yet on us.
I get amused at the doom and gloom merchants who said it was here months ago.
Some also spoke of $200 oil by now or not far away.
My reasons are these, we would be much further down the road to new fuels if governments did not protect the oil industry.
They do not want new fuels just yet.
But the over inflated oil prices driven by greed not shortages showed us, not governments we must move now.
We will we are, moving toward other power source's.
The car industry debacle in America highlights that country's failure to even begin to compete with other nations, they now must get very busy to survive, they will.
Long after we find our new fuel, new energy, we will still have oil in the ground
OUG
No intent to be rude, down load an Ispell spell checker, the one that lets you right click your mouse and check your posts.
worth a try.

Whether we are approaching a point where oil availability declines or not -

I think the benefit with higher oil prices is it directly encourages and promotes, through natural market forces, the development of viable alternatives.

My personal view is "strength through diversity" and we do need a "commerical" alternative to oil as a primary energy source and whilst bio-fuels have something to offer the grain and farm produce sources imposes a radically skewed demand in a previously balanced food market.

Without a solution to the dangerous and lengthy half-lifes of waste and biproducts, nuclear energy, whilst "clean" remains limited in application.

Ultimately, I will hold faith in the innovation and ingenuity of individuals to solve the problem and the incompetence of government to defeat their efforts.

Belly: "I doubt peak oil is yet on us."

Try a thought experiment. In an era when the price of crude tripped, what would you predict would happen to oil production?

Made your prediction? Great. Now look at this, and explain what you see:

http://www.worldoil.com/INFOCENTER/STATISTICS_DETAIL.asp?Statfile=_worldoilproduction

stevenlmeyer: "the price of oil is back in the doldrums"

We are in a recession, the prices of all commodities are dropping like stones, and I paid over $1 per litre on the weekend. If this is "the doldrums", god help us when demand takes off again.

rstuart you and I need not agree on this but we are bound to see better fuels new fuels.
We are already seeing Yank tank type cars sending those who made them broke.
It took oil well on the way to $200 to do that
America land of the once brilliant business man is now trying to compete and build cars they should have lead the world in but tailed the rest.
Oil production has been cut but prices continue to fall, OPEC may regret its own failure to understand business principles as it match's Americas unwanted cars with pricing itself out of the market.
We will have and use some oil, long after we have found new power courses.
Even western governments reluctance to threaten the oil economy will be over come by new fuels, not better time will come than now.
This crisis is fertile ground for change.