Your position is well argued, but I still see something different

Submitted by Rick House (United States), Mar 12, 2007 at 03:30

Earnest,

1. About the North Sea... I agree that the field is waning, but it is still producing 2 million bbls a day, which is about 200,000 bbls a day more than the UK needs for domestic consumption.

2. About the oil market... I agree that it is a "commodity and a shortage anywhere by any country" will affect prices. However, I also believe that the oil market has been managed more often for the benefit of the West than for its demise... This market management is very evident today. Despite four years of war in center of the Middle East oil prices have remain relatively stable... Katrina effected the US oil supply more than the war has. You see oil as a "fungible commodity," I beg to differ. It may be fungible at times, but it is also highly managed too when it has to be.

3. As for "The fact that Saudi Arabia and its neigbors can afford to hire the U.S. military to protect its only source of income from neigbors like Iraq and Iran, does not qualify them as "good allies", only co-dependents. And the fact that Saudi Arabia is now a greater exporter of radical Islam than Iran or even Iraq ever was, would also not qualify them as allies." I have to ask if you have ever been to Saudi Arabia or any part of the Middle East. Your rhetoric appears to come directly from a Democratic webpage. Believe me, Saudi Arabia is not a den of radicals despite what our liberal press would have us believe. In fact, Iran isn't all that radical either. Diehard Islamic radicals are few in number. Look at their acts of terrorism to date. Granted many of them have been spectacular, but you have to also agree that there hasn't been a great many of them.

4. Yes, I agree that Iran has played a major role in the actions of Hamas and Hezbollah, and by doing so it has made the world less safe. However, I disagree with your perception of Iran's role. I believe that the recent conflict in Lebanon had more to do with the people in Lebanon than it had to do with Hezbollah's Iranian suppliers. The same can be said about the struggles in Gaza. Iran may assist groups in Lebanon, Gaza, and even in Iraq but its control is marginal at best... As for the weapons from Russia and China, people buy them because they're cheap. Please, let's not extend our discussion to the arms market too.

5. As for a miracle cure to your Peak Oil problem, I just don't know what to say. I don't believe a "'Manhattan Project' scenario" is possible. I believe that conservation, restructuring, and adaptation will occur as needed in the process of reorienting the world economy away from oil. Spending hundreds of billions of dollars for a miracle cure is a waste of resources.

Earnest, after writing this reply, I've realized that I'm just more optimistic than you are. However, thanks for your input. I always like a good discussion.

Rick House

Denton, TX

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