This highly respected analyst of fossil fuels lends her insights about the likely impacts that low oil prices will have to reach this overall conclusion:
In my view, a rapid drop in oil prices is likely a symptom that we are approaching a debt-related collapse.... Underlying this debt-related collapse is the fact that we seem to be reaching the limits of a finite world. There is a growing mismatch between what workers in oil importing countries can afford, and the rising real costs of extraction, including associated governmental costs. This has been covered up to date by rising debt, but at some point, it will not be possible to keep increasing the debt sufficiently.Because the collapse in oil prices was caused by the Medieval rulers of Saudi Arabian in collaboration with the directors of the Empire mainly to undermine the economies of Russia (as they did in the 1980s) and Iran, I think that the numerous negative impacts that she outlines in her report will not be as negative as she argues--at least, not this time around. Thus, what the Empire directors and their Saudi collaborators decided will be reversed as soon as the impacts become too negative for Empire interests. Meanwhile, many major oil companies will simply take advantage of the situation by buying up smaller companies at bargain prices.
I have followed her writing for at least five years and I know that she previously argued that peak oil/financial collapse would come in cycles, with each one more damaging than the preceding one. But this time, the drop in prices was decided not by the market, but by political considerations. Thus, I think she is getting ahead of herself in this article.
