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German Military Braces For Peak Oil

myrdos2 writes "A study by a German military think tank leaked to the Internet warns of the potential for a dire global economic crisis in as little as 15 years as a result of a peak and an irreversible decline in world oil supplies. The study states that there is 'some probability that peak oil will occur around the year 2010 and that the impact on security is expected to be felt 15 to 30 years later. ... In the medium term the global economic system and every market-oriented national economy would collapse.' The report closely matches one from the US military earlier this year, which stated that surplus oil production capacity could disappear within two years and there could be serious shortages by 2015 with a significant economic and political impact."

3 of 764 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Tar sands by Eukariote · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Ah, you have half a clue. Vast amounts of tar sands indeed. Vast amounts of oil all over the place, actually. Brazil, Cuba, Prudhoe Bay, and so on and on and on. If the public would know just how vast, they would revolt and not be prepared to pay the current excessive energy prices. That is why this Peak-oil nonsense is being sold to you time-and-again in bullshit articles such as the one above.

    Reality check: land-based oil close to the surface carries a production cost of only a couple of dollars. Of that kind of oil, there are still vast supplies. In Iraq for example. That is why that country has been kept in a perpetual state of being messed up for a century now. It is even why it was created into being by drawing the borders as they were drawn by the western powers that be, with 1/3 Kurdish, 1/3 Shia, and 1/3 Sunni territory to ensure continual political instability. Guess what happened after the Iraqi's even so got their act together and elected a democratic government...

    It is basic economics: the price point is determined by supply and demand. Artificial scarcity is a much better way to up the price up than trying to work on the demand side. This scam is being pulled not just with oil, but also with diamonds , land, foodstuffs, water, and so on. Think of it like hidden taxes levied by the criminals that rule you.

  2. People will profit from this by ZDRuX · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Ha, I bet Al Gore is salivating at this news. Owning much of the "green" industry he is sure to profit from this news, and any other armageddon scenario's that may crop up.

    --
    The magical number is: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
  3. Re:Well I don't think it'll be a problem like that by BrokenHalo · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    When petroleum becomes expensive, stuff will stop being made universally out of plastics.

    True, but given that most "stuff" has to be dug out of the ground, there are lots of things that will become unobtainable as they cost more to dig up than than they can be sold for.

    I have been predicting a collapse in our society for decades, a notion articulately explored by Ronald Wright in his book-length essay A Short History of Progress. I know attention span is something in short supply at Slashdot, so any exhortation to read a book (!) will fall on deaf ears, but the synopsis in that Wiki article gives the gist.